Making of A Sword
by Celes777
Summary: Before he fell into the darkness of despair. A story about Sephiroth's own identity and his relationship to his friends during the time of Before Crisis and Crisis Core, from an OC's perspective. No pairing. No Romance. M for minor coarse language. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

_Hi everyone, welcome to my story and thanks for reading. I'm new to the forum._

_I'm not sure how many people still read FFVII fanfic today but still...here I am! _

_This story is a translation project from my original. I wrote it first in my native language and now decided to share it for the first time. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you see any typo! Also, the original is completed already. So don't worry about no more updates! I can always translate the rest!_

_This piece is written from an original character's perspective. No romantical relationship or pairing involved. The first three chapters might feel a little slow but I promise the story will catch up soon._

_I wish I am doing an ok job handling the characters._

_I'm truly grateful to any review!_

_Celes_

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 1]

"_Mr. Sephiroth,_

_Please accept the assurance of my highest respect._

_My name is Anlila Rain. Starting today, I will take the task of my predecessor and be in charge of your weapon maintenance ._

_It is my primary duty to best serve your need. I heard that you recently returned from Wutai, and it would be my pleasure if you pick a time for my first visit."_

Before I opened that door, I reread this email to make sure it didn't have anything inappropriate. I put the phone back to my purse, checked my attire and took a deep breath, then I knocked on the door.

"Mr. Sephiroth."

There was no answer. He probably didn't hear me? I raised my hand hesitantly again but got interrupted by the male voice from inside.

"Come in."

His tone was almost gentle, but certain quality in his voice reminded me of an empty throne, with intimidating majesty. I pushed the door open and shut it tightly after me. The interior was typical for Shinra office. White walls, clean floor in light grey, Incandescent lighting. This office is much smaller than Lazard's, containing only one set of table and chair, another white table against the wall with a Spider plant on it. There is a coffee machine and a few glasses on it too.

Sephiroth was standing in front, with his back towards me. The leather coat contoured his body, contrasting starkly to the white wall. His signature silver hair flowed down to his calf as a waterfall. This contrast between light and dark was too overpowering to human eyes. Not until few seconds later, I noticed that he was holding a long sword in his left hand. Its blade shining dimly in the shadowy part of the room.

"Mr. Sephiroth…"

He turned back slowly. Inch by inch the blade came under the light and stung my eyes.

"Nice to meet you."

He said very dully, lacking any attempt for faking courtesy. Before I could come up with a response, he turned aside and settled the sword on a katana stand on the table, in the way of an emperor placing his scepter. Then those emerald eyes skimmed across my face. I felt like being blown over by biting winter wind.

"What do you think about this sword?"

After he asked, I moved out from my zombie stance, quickly took out a pair of gloves and stepped forward. The 1st class SOLDIER crossed his arms, leaning against the wall as he waited for a response. I quickly checked the sword and concluded,

"This is a sacred…I mean, a sword of highest quality. From its bladesmithing, I am sure it could only be made by the best swordsmith in Wutai…"

"Highest quality?"

Sephiroth picked up the sword again. The extra-long katana looked like an elegant, weightless curve instead of an eight-pound piece of iron in his hand. I stepped back when the color of silver flashed across my sight. The katana stand made of walnut wood split open from the middle, and fell on the table, making a loud noise.

I puffed nervously. He might chop up the table next, so I asked,

"Mr. Sephiroth, did you get it from Wutai? Would you like to…make it your weapon?"

He finally spared the poor office table and held up the sword horizontally, parallel to the ground, running his fingers along the sharp blade as if he was assessing it. Silver, silver-white, mako-green. His glacial features were reflected upon the narrow piece of metal and were just as cold as the blade.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer:

I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 2]

"Hey, did you hear, Wutai is gonna surrender."

"No way! That stubborn old man won't give up until he sees the coffin!"

"But Sephiroth took his sword already! How are Wutai soldiers gonna fight if they don't have the sword?"

"What? Sephiroth took his sword? You got to be kidding me…"

I hid further back into the corner of the elevator and hugged the katana tightly as these two 2nd class SOLDIERs chatted. They shut their mouths when another SOLDIER cleared his throat. I laughed quietly. They have made up origin story about this katana without realizing it is in the same space with them. And it was definitely did not belong to Godo.

The elevator door opened up. I pushed my way through all the people with great difficulty and almost tripped over the carpet, but someone helped me to my feet.

"Are you okay?" Asked a man with a deep voice and warm hands that reminded me of my father. I turned back and saw his face, then I stumbled immediately,

"Mr…Mr. Hewley!"

"Just Angeal." He waved his hand smiling, his other hand which usually wielded claymore was now holding a tool kit. Gardening tools were sticking out of the thick denim bag.

"You are the new weapon specialist for us, aren't you? That looks like a lot of trouble. Do you need help carrying it?"

He pointed at the long katana I was carrying. Angeal Hewley…friend of Genesis and Sephiroth. The three legendary 1sts, the three men looking for the gift of goddess in _Loveless_. Everyone knows about them in our company. _He_ called me "weapon specialist" and offered to help me. I shook quickly with surprise.

"No…no, it's okay! Just a few more steps to his office - are you here for Mr. Sephiroth too?"

Angeal opened up the entrance to restricted office area with a key card and swung the tool kit in his hand, "He complained that the plant I got him drew bugs."

"Bugs?" I recalled about the plant, confounded, "Spider plant can draw bugs?"

Angeal laughed out loud at my reaction and that astonished me even more. 1st class SOLDIER laughed like this too…

We stopped in front of the door I visited yesterday. Angeal knocked three times and no one answered.

"Is he watching TV again?" He muttered.

TV? That hero has this sort of hobby? Angeal was about the knock again when the door suddenly pulled open. Sephiroth showed up behind it with a headset in his hand. I had seen him in news media for countless times but this is the first time I saw his face show some real emotion - he was inpatient for being interrupted.

I gave a quick and stealthy glance to the computer screen behind him as Angeal caught his attention. The video on his screen paused at some fighting scene and its title was _The Hero, The Wanderer, and the Captive. _That was a new historical show produced by Kalm Entertainment this year. Was that really his hobby? I lowered my eyes and started to unpack the katana. Angeal was already cleaning the Spider plant and spraying something on its leaf, while he grumbled,

"It's just aphids. Can't just clean it yourself? "

"You are the one who told me don't spray pesticide before figuring out if the bug is harmful or not. And I have no knowledge about insects."

I listened to them quietly as I took out a new katana stand to hold the sword. Angeal soon took care of the aphids and came to see this new weapon. The blade looked exceptionally thin after polishing, though it did not seem fragile at all. The katana reflected light sharply on its perfectly curved blade. Angeal studied it for a moment and commented,

"It suits you."

That seemed like a compliment. Sephiroth gave a slight smile but didn't say anything. Angeal then asked where he found the sword.

"An abandoned mansion in Wutai. Probably belonged to fallen aristocrat."

"Does it have a name?"

Sephiroth frowned in annoyance, "It's just a sword. It doesn't need a name."

"Name is important," Angeal replied with a somber tone, "name is a reflection of the spirit of the weapon, or the dream of its owner. For example, my sword is named buster because…"

Before he could finish, Sephiroth resumed for him as if he was reciting from a book, "Claymore represents ambition, katana represents courage, short sword represents protection. This sword is your family legacy and it was named 'buster' because it commemorates your ancestors' expanding their territories."

"…if you remember it that clearly, then give your katana a name."

"You can name it if you care that much." The silver-haired hero crossed his arms as if this was none of this business. Angeal pondered about it deeply for a while and turned to me.

"Well…" his eyes fixed on the employee ID pinned to my collar, "Anlila, I don't know much about Wutaian sword, what you think it should be called?"

Sephiroth turned to me too. Being stared at by two 1st SOLDIERs, I was so nervous that I wanted to shrink into the floor. But I still had to stand there and search for all the knowledge about Wutaian sword in my head. Finally I couldn't tolerate their gaze anymore and threw out an answer in desperation,

"I…I only know that Wutaian swords are usually named after their bladesmiths. And Goro Nyudo Masamune is the most famous artisan in their legend. If you want, I can go take a look at all the swords in history…"

"Don't bother," Sephiroth stopped my rambling with a cold remark, "Masamune then."

—TBC—


	3. Chapter 3

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 3]

These two days were the first time I'd ever met a 1st class. Until I got home from work, I was still thinking about the process of "naming" Masamune. It was like a dream-

This was my first year in Shinra as a specialist in weapon maintenance and development for SOLDIERs. The title sounded niche, but everyone in our department had a "specialist" title of some sort. I was hired only because I had done research about magic and weaponry. Though my title suggested developing new things for SOLDIER, the fact is, Shinra haven't consider using something expensive as materia on regular weapons for 2nd and 3rd class members, and I didn't have to do maintenance for their weapons either. So in fact, besides checking on the production of standard manufactured SOLDIER weapon, my only clients were 1st class and 1st class candidates.

In other words, I had a blow-off job. I dawdled into Shinra Military Academy, dawdled into Shinra, and planned to continue dawdling the rest of my life. I never imagined to meet 1st class SOLDIERs face to face - I thought they would send their weapon to me by some assistants - no to mention accidentally naming Sephiroth's newest weapon.

Fortunately I didn't have to face them often. Genesis was the only 1st member who never showed up and had someone else send his rapier to the lab. Sephiroth never sent anyone. He just sent me email whenever he wanted maintenance for Masamune. Angeal, the only person who didn't intimidate me as much, only used standard weapon and insisted on taking care of buster sword himself. However, sometimes I would see him on 49th floor instructing new members, and he would chat with me about gardening, cooking and photography.

After a few days work, I added materia slots to Masamune. The three SOLDIERs left for war again. During the months of their absence, my only task was to sit in the lab and visit the weapon manufacture factory occasionally. Once in a while I had to submit drafts for development ideas so Scarlett. She was too fond of large scale explosive weaponry and never had the time to make things difficult for me. I had plenty time to sit back at home reading and baking. I was carefree.

A few month past and Spring was coming to an end. Midgar was having its first rainy season of the year. The rain continued for a week non stop.

I was very annoyed but still had to go to city center to pick up some documents. On the way back, I passed by a supermarket and couldn't help but went in. When I walked out with a large full bag, two Turks were walking up to this way with a man in handcuffs. One of the Turks recognized me as a friend of friend, and nodded to me.

"Good work." I nodded back with greetings. The captured man was dressed in a khaki uniform, and his head covered with a weird looking hat. A pair of goggles was hanging around his neck. I have seen this kind of costume from news. It was typical for "AVANLACHE" members, the anti-Shinra terrorist group. Noticed that I was looking at him, this man gaped at me with a piercing glare. I stepped backward, scared.

"Yo, better not mess with anyone!"

The Turks pulled his arm behind him against his shoulder. The man gritted his teeth to hold back a painful mourn. I stepped aside and let them pass.

I walked down the street and took the train to sector five "central square" station, the station closest to where I lived. Right after I stepped out the platform, a group of girls rushed passed me screaming and yelling, almost knocked me to the ground. I managed to stand but the groceries in the shopping bag were all over the place. In order not to block other passengers getting off the train, I quickly shoved everything in my arms and moved to a sitting area in front of the bathroom.

I sighed after dropping everything on the bench. At that moment, the door of the bathroom cracked open, and I looked in that direction. I met a pair of familiar eyes and we both froze.

Sephiroth was behind that door. He was wearing a plain black hoodie, one hand on the door snob readying to close it anytime, the other hand holding a strangely long package. From the leather and knots which wrapped that thing, I immediately recognized what it was. He looked a little surprised, almost lost, and the emerald colored eyes were wide.

"Mr. Seph…"

I uttered his name and hurriedly threw a hand over my mouth. Then I understood what was going on with that group of girls. Before we both could react, we heard fervent talking and girlish giggles getting closer and closer. I turned back to see, but then got dragged into the bathroom by a strong force. Sephiroth locked the door let me go right away, and then made a "hush" gesture to me.

I noticed that his hair was wet and his clothes were covered in raindrops. He looked drained and disturbed. I was thinking about what to say, how to get out. Suddenly, a loud pound on the door startled me.

"Mr. Sephiroth! I know you are in there!"

"Sephyyyy! Please give me your signature!"

"Sephyyyyyyy! You look so cute even in hoodieeeeeee! ❥"

"Can I get a picture with you Seph? Pleeeeaaaase?"

He leaned back against the wall as those frenzied scream raised one after another. Annoyance was written on his face. My full body tightened in nervousness, but I had to do something. I checked my attire and hair, then took a deep breath and threw the door open, swiftly, but only slightly ajar. Then I yelled,

"Are you all fucking insane or something? Won't you leave me for a quiet bathroom break? Get the fuck away!"

They pulled their faces long once they saw it was not Sephiroth who came out, but a strange woman. The leader of that group was not scared by my roar. She was still trying to look over my shoulder into the bathroom.

"I'm sure he went this way." She said suspiciously.

My heart was pounding crazily. I stood up as tall as possible to block her view, but I didn't know how successful that was. She was poking her head around to look. Finally, an idea came to mind. I grit my teeth in determination, and yelled again,

"What, you wanna come inside and take a look on my period blood on the fucking floor?"

"…"

Her face turned red, then dark. At last she turned back with an angry look and waved other girls to leave with her. I closed the door again and put my whole weight on it. Sweat rolled down my neck.

"Mr, Mr. Sephiroth…"

I let out a sigh and tried to calm my beating heart, "Where did you…come back from?"

He finally stood up straight. I couldn't tell if he was happy or upset.

"From Wutai."

"From Wutai?" I pictured the city transportation map in my head. This station was a big transfer point and was connected to trains and long-distance busses to other cities. Then I hesitated, however curiosity ended up conquering me.

"But…why did you ride the train? Shouldn't 1st class have designated vehicles to pick you up…?"

He raised his brows and looked at me, "Is that what you heard?"

His gaze was like cold water poured down my whole body. I almost wanted to crouch into a ball, but I tried not to and muttered,

"No…it's just…I heard 1st class has all these privileges…"

He did not answer right away, and then smirked. I didn't know why, but everything he said and every look on his face seem to have a sarcastic character to it, almost a little condescending. It was so different from me. I always acted like a coward. He had no idea what I was thinking and replied,

"Then taking the train alone is one of the privileges I have."

He smirked again and that laughter seemed to melt the icy shell around him. Now I dared to look at his eyes without blinded by snow. His silver hair, wet, slipped down from the hoodie and fixed on his face. It looked soft, just as his long eye lashes. My heart felt squeezed all of a sudden. I didn't know why he took the train. I only knew that Sephiroth, who had always been like a god, was forced to hide in a public bathroom because of those crazy fans. I checked my watch for time, and asked,

"So…where can you go? You can't stay here because the employee will come check the bathroom if it stays locked…you can sneak out, but you can't stay anywhere public…do you have any friend in sector five?"

He simply put his arms around the long katana and shook his head.

Helplessly, I looked out from the tiny window in this bathroom. Daylight has almost disappeared from the grey sky. There were only few hours to dusk. After a period of silence, I suggested with a super weak voice,

"Well…how about my apartment then?"

—TBC—

* * *

This sounds like SUE? I promise nothing romantic is gonna happen!

I'm grateful to any review!


	4. Chapter 4

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer:

I don't own FFVII

* * *

[chapter 4]

"Please help yourself."

Hot black tea flowed into cups and white air raised with a pleasing smell. The cookies were baked with perfect timing, fresh and warm. Everything was perfect. I settled the tray on the table and sit across him.

Sephiroth was sitting on my usual seat, looking out to the grey scene from the window. Grey clouds, grey street, grey rain, all reflected in his eyes which absorbed all the light in the room. Compared to the dull grey city, his skin, hair and eyes were so bright, quiet but vivid. I drifted away staring him, until a loud thunder blasted outside the window. I lowered my eyes.

Yes, this was my suggestion, but I was in more panic than anyone could me. Sephiroth didn't know about all the nervous thoughts in my head and was still staring out the window. I still remember him first stepped out of the train station - he stopped and looked around at the skyscrapers and people on the street, like a kid who skipped school and saw the daytime world for the first time.

I couldn't help but followed his stare. What was so interesting to look at? I only saw a couple parents pulling their children home from recreational facilities because rain was coming. One of the kids had a claymore toy and was dragging it on the ground as he walked. It was a normal scene. Maybe…he had never experienced it?

Rain started again shortly and Sephiroth finally turned back. He picked up a cookie and took a bite, and did not have any reaction. That probably meant I baked as well as those stores, and I felt smug secretly. Then he asked, out of nowhere,

"You made these?"

I stumbled in shock, and then overwhelming mortification, "How did you…"

"I saw what you bought. Whisk, flour, matcha powder, baking paper…" he held up his cup and took a sip. I put on a goofy, nervous smile,

"Ah, ha ha, you saw those…oh, well, I left the shopping bag in the station."

"You like to bake?"

"Umm, yeah."

I enjoyed seeing pastries getting puffy and fat in the oven, and I also liked to see the content faces after my friends ate my dessert, though I didn't really have a sweet tooth myself. But other people need not to know about these trivias. We drank tea quietly and waited for time to pass. He seemed to be used to silence, and just kept looking out of the window. I started to feel really awkward. Then I found something to talk about, as I asked,

"The Masamue…it's a big trouble to carry around, isn't it?"

"Not really."

My hand shook slightly due to that short, cold reply. Sephiroth seemed to notice it and explained.

"I'm used to carrying weights. It is just a sword."

"Oh…that's right..."

I mumbled and laughed nervously again. He crossed his arms and leaned back to the chair, and asked,

"You said that sword is sacred. What did you mean?"

"Well, that…"

I was going to have cold sweat again. I put my hands down the table and tried to recall the description from a book.

"In Wutaian sword-making, the surface pattern of a sword is called '_kenso_'. They believe that _kenso_ is determined by god's will at the moment the sword is finished. Masamune's _kenso_, the folding fan patterns, is said to be the most powerful kind. It represents high class and great luck, and it also relates to the invigoration of the spirit and closeness to the heavens. Wutainans believe that the folding fan is a divine receptor to channel the power of gods to the weapon…"

It sounded too superstitious, didn't it? In order to fix that impression, I waved my hands hastily, almost knocking down the tea pot.

"However, these, these are just legends…that pattern on Masamune is actually a result of crystal structure responding to the heating and cooling process during the blade making process. The only thing it can prove is that its well made."

Sephiroth gave a "Hm" and did not say anything else. There was actually one more thing about kenso that I didn't tell him. The divination of _kenso_ was also done to ensure a weapon matches its wielder, so the katana would share the same spirit as its owner. Sephiroth was like a god, so Masamune suited him. But I didn't say that. For some reason I didn't think he'd be happy hearing it. So I changed the topic and tried to chat with him like chatting with a regular colleague.

"Mr. Sephiroth lives in sector zero, right? With the other two 1st class?"

The luxury apartment for 1st and 1st only. He nodded. His feature softened a little when he thought about friends.

"Then…what do you like to do when you are not on mission?"

"Nothing special."

This response was definitely within my expectation, but I still felted a little disappointed. He didn't say any more and started to look around. It seemed like finally he gained some interest in my apartment. His eyes roamed around the living room and the open kitchen, and finally settled on the piano on the other side of the living room.

"You like to play piano?"

I asked in surprise. Unlike the other two 1st class who were born in Banora and had families, he grew up in Shinra, and everyone knew that. Within my knowledge, the company raised him as a super soldier and he never revealed any talent in art - in fact, he never revealed much about himself except his record in battle and his stunning appearance.

"Someone taught me a song a long time ago. I already forgot it."

He said with a monotone.

"Oh…"

I didn't know what to do again. I was so desperate about finding something to do instead of sitting face to face with him awkwardly that I walked up to the piano, opened it, and invited,

"Um. Would you like to try?"

He didn't react. Then I realized what I have done and closed the lid with embarrassment. But suddenly he put down the tea cup and walked up, staring at the piano. I had to open it again, bewildered by his action. A moment later, he put one hand on the keys, eyebrows knitted tightly in a frown. There was an adrift and distant look on his face, an empty look as if he was trying to recall something but couldn't remember anything.

I didn't dare to move because of that, and held my breath as he touched the keys and pressed one of them.

A long, clean sound.

Then, he tried one key after another, looking for the right one as he attempted to remember the tune. After many times he finally figured out a choppy song I've never heard before. From the stiff movement of his fingers, I could tell that he haven't touched piano for a long time. Then he stopped and started to play that song again, more smoothly this time. I can finally pick up the mood of this piece of melody. It was elegant, melancholy but beautiful. It reminded me of a clear river flowing under the crescent moon. However, the music stopped all of a sudden, and I raised my eyes in confusion.

"…Hah," Sephiroth pulled back his hand from the keyboard and covered his forehead. Lowly, he let out some laughter as if he was mocking himself.

"What am I doing…" He said.

That bitter laughter suddenly made me feel that, he was just as broken as that piece of music, so was he memory. Before I could come up with a response, he hid the chaotic look on his face and stood up. He turned back to the serious, cold and god-like hero he was.

"I should get going."

—TBC—

* * *

Notes:

The description of kenso of Masamune comes from wiki/Masamune_(Final_Fantasy_VII)


	5. Chapter 5

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer:

I don't own FFVII

* * *

[chapter 5]

Next day after the fans incident, I stayed in the lab for the whole time and made a saya, a sheath with Hackberry wood for Masanume. I painted it black and ordered a customized bag for it. If he wants to use "privilege of 1st class" in the future, he could have something other than leather, cloth and ropes to wrap his sword.

After the bag was delivered, I took the two items to lv.49. Sephiroth was not there, so I gave these to the director of SOLDIER, Lazard, and begged him to give it to Sephiroth. As soon as I walked out of this office, I saw a colleague from Weapon Development stood at the lounge area, craning his neck as if he was looking for someone.

"Sir, are you looking for me?"

"So you _are_ here, Anlila," his lower face was shaking slightly. I was not sure if it was from sympathy or he was just trying to hold back a sneer. Some other people heard him and turned to look at us, "Scarlet wants you at her office right now."

Scarlet's office was located at lv.47, right across the lab. She was very unhappy about the fact that both Heidegger and Lazard had their offices on higher level than her. I knocked on the door and entered as if I was going to face death penalty. My director was sitting on her chair like a queen, surrounded by a rich exhibition of weapon samples, trophies and certificates. After she heard me coming in, she dramatically flailed her blonde ban without raising her eyelids at me.

"Sit."

I obeyed. She raised a hand from under the table and pushed a few photos toward me. The crimson polish on her sharp nails was blinding. I picked up the photos, my head low. Then my heart turned icy cold as soon as I saw those images.

The resolution was bad. Clearly those were screenshots from security cameras of different places. I was on the pictures - with a tall man in black. We were outside the bathroom door, running on the street in rain, and on the last one, entering an apartment building together. On the last photo, a few strands of silver-white hair flowed down from the hoodie and stung my eyes.

"Sephiroth is a public figure. You better have some senses." Scarlet said.

"I, I…We…"

I muttered meaninglessly, only after a moment I retrieved my voice, "…we are just friends! No, I mean, not even friends! I just wanted to help him get away from those fans and wait till nighttime so he could go back…that's why I invited him to my apartment…"

My voice got lower and lower and finally muted. Scarlet looked at me with no expression at all. Few seconds later, she suddenly burst into a loud, crazy laughter.

"Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" she tilted her head up, laughed while pounding on the table, her chest raising up and down with that movement. I was stunned in shock. After she was done, she hastily stuck her body forward to me and her stinging eyes glared into mines.

"Listen to what you just said, Anlila! You believe I think you two are in relationship or something?"

"…"

I didn't know what to say and just stared like an idiot.

"Not even in your dreams! Sephiroth and - you?" Annoyance and disgust passed through her blue eyes. She looked at me as if she was looking at a drooling retard, "Fucking wake up! What I mean was it is terrible influence for him, for SOLDIER _and_ for Shinra if he get caught from hiding in a bathroom and entering an apartment with some woman! He shouldn't have left the troop and took the train at the first place, but that's none of my business. But what the hell do you think _you_ were doing!?"

I dropped my head quietly and waited for her to finish.

"You better not meddle again, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Get out."

I walked out of her office like a zombie and entered the elevator, pressing a button unconsciously. Then I found out I pressed "3". Well, I thought, maybe I really should get some kind of drink after what happened.

I went to the café on third floor and bought my favorite rose latte. It didn't make me feel much better, though. When I was sipping the drink and drifting in thoughts, a warm hand patted my shoulder lightly.

"Is everything alright?"

It was Angeal. He was holding a cup of herbal tea. When I saw the concern in his grayish blue eyes I almost felt the urge to cry, but I stopped myself. I nodded, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine."

"I heard about what happened. Scarlet sent someone to look for you this morning on our floor."

"I know. She was not pleased at all."

"Don't take it hard, Anlila. You didn't do anything wrong. You were just trying to help him out," Angeal said in his signature sober and tranquil tone, "SOLDIERs are humans too."

"Thank you."

I replied with sincere gratitude. Angeal smiled and walked away. I finished the coffee and went back to my lab. Today's lab technician was working at his own table. I walked to my little office and saw a young woman dressed in black was already sitting there. She heard me came in and turned to me. A smile bloomed on her face.

"You're back, Anlila."

Her auburn hair and orange eyes were bright as sunlight in the narrow little stall of my office. I finally felt better.

"Cissnei. What brought you here today?"

"I got promoted - I'm not a trainee anymore, finally a formal Turk!"

"That's so wonderful!"

I clapped and hugged her. It has always been her dream to be a Turk. Finally it has come true. I was truly happy for her. But then she adjusted her employee ID slightly and the smile faded from her lips.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh," she immediately looked back to me, put back another smile and stood up, "Nothing. Well. 'AVALANCHE' has been very active recently. We caught one of them stealing our shipments few days ago. Be careful when you are in the city."

I nodded and said bye to her, knowing that she was leaving. After a few steps toward the door she suddenly walked back, and took out a large shopping bag underneath the other side of my table. The bag was very full, a logo of Midgar's biggest supermarket chain was printed on it.

"Since when you order stuff shipped to your office? Someone left it at your door. Almost tripped me when I came in."

I looked into the bag in confusion after she left. There were baking paper, aluminum foil, flour, matcha powder, hand mixer, and some other baking supplies I didn't purchase that day.

—TBC—


	6. Chapter 6

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

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Huge thanks to my first reviewer! your review means a lot to me!

Based on the word count ratio I have now, the story will be around 25k words in total. It will soon get into BC/CC related plot and there will be more action.

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Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII.

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[Chapter 6]

Soon enough, people forgot about the train station fans incident. In order to thank Sephiroth for those cooking utensils, I baked some pastries for him. Of course, I gave them to all other colleagues as well except Genesis, because I didn't dare to do so. Angeal seemed to be the only one accepting those snack sincerely though he didn't have a sweet tooth. I'm sure his 2nd class trainee Zack had his share for him.

Shinra was still on its heyday. Wutai war was coming to a conclusion. The company was sending fewer and fewer SOLDIERs there. Most of them stayed in the headquarters and were having frequent trainings. There was actually more work for me. I added up to six materia slots for Masamune, the largest amount of slots among all current weapons in our company. I also remade Genesis' rapier, fusing fire magic with the blade so he did not have to spend the time casting spell or use a materia.

After a short period of busy season, Summer festival was coming. I made some dango[1] and brought it to work. Today I just received a request to do maintenance for Masamune, so the first portion of dango was brought to Sephiroth. As always, he accepted them, but this time he said,

"You probably shouldn't give this around."

"Huh?"

I gaped my mouth. He explained with better than usual patience,

"We are still in war with Wutai."

It took a few moment for me to understand why this was inappropriate. Summer Festival, though originally a Wutaian tradition, has become a global festival for a long time. This year was no exception. There were Wutainan lanterns hanging along the entire street. Wutainan snacks and sweets were on the front row, on sale in all supermarkets. Most Midgardian, including me, seemed to forget that Shinra was still in war with Wutai, and thought we were just enjoying ourselves by celebrating Summer Festival. However, as an employee of Shinra, it didn't sound very loyal to celebrate it…on the other hand, as a member of the company that "invaded" Wutai, celebrating their festival seemed pretty…hypocritical? It was not like we actually care about their tradition…

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

I hid rest of the dango for a whole day and took them back home. If taking back gift was not inappropriate, I would definitely ask for Sephiroth's portion back. The next day, I delivered him his Masamune, worried, with my voice questioning myself in my head - was I disloyal or hypocritical?

"Have all the 2nd class left?"

Thank Leviathan, he didn't seem to remember about the dango at all and greeted to me as always. I exhaled in relief, and then noticed that the lounge area was completely empty.

"I think they went out for training…haven't received any special maintenance request from them recently. "

"Very well."

He looked like he was in a unusually good mood today, as he smiled slightly at my response. This was the first time I'd saw him really smile. The frost over his jade-color eyes cracked and revealed the flowing lifestream color lake behind. Then he grabbed Masamune, swung it twice in front of him and walked out of the office. I left after him and saw the other two 1st class were waiting outside. Angeal nodded to me. Genesis just snorted loftily and closed the _Loveless_ book in his hands.

They were going to the VR training room - that was a sort of entertainment for them. I nodded to all of them and ran back to my own lab.

Fifteen minutes later, when I was browsing internet, I felt the floor above me quivered hard, as if a Titan stomped his feet with all his strength on top of my head. I ran out. Director Scarlet and other few employees ran out as well. They rushed to the staircase without waiting for the elevator. I followed them too. Scarlett's pointy heels made a loud, rhythmic noise on the steps, and she cursed as she ran up,

"! # they went to fool around again...these fucking monsters..."

This is gonna be bad. I thought. They must have lost control during fighting and casted something destructive. I wondered how much damage it did to the VR system? Once we got to lv.49, all of them ran to check on the training room, and I paced outside, lost like a fly without head.

Soon after, Genesis staggered out, one hand on his shoulder, heading straight to the elevator. Blood dripped out under his hand and colored his red leather jacket to a crimson hue. Angeal and Sephiroth followed behind him with a worried look on their face. They watched him getting into the elevator alone. Unlike the lighthearted atmosphere before they went in, now the air among them was stiff and subtle.

"What…what happened?"

I asked timidly.

Sephiroth was frowning, not sure for confusion or displease, maybe both. Angeal looked very tense too. That look frightened me quite a bit since I've almost never seen him this tense before. He probably sensed my anxiety and patted me on the shoulder, then explained with a calm voice,

"It's fine. We just went too wild."

Another elevator arrived. Heidegger, Lazard and a man I've never seen before came forward. The last man was emaciated, dressed in white lab coat. His greasy black hair tied into a ponytail behind his head. Heidegger and Lazard immediately rounded up the two 1st class SOLDIERs, while the scientist pushed his glasses and slowly paced up to them, and then haughtily ordered in a hideous high-pitch voice,

"Go see Hollander in his lab."

He didn't even call any name, but Angeal acquiesced in that the scientist was commanding him. He gave Sephiroth a worried look before he went into the elevator. Then, the scientist spoke again,

"Come with me."

He stood arrogantly and his cold eyes scanned over the soldier's face. He didn't even call his name. To my surprise, Sephiroth pointed both his blade and his eyes to the floor and walked up to the strange man. His hair casted a strong shadow on his face. In the last second he was still a hero, a real person, and then this second he suddenly looked so passive, like a…

Puppet.

I was appalled by that word which came up in my mind.

Without a word, Sephiroth followed the scientist into one of the elevators and left the crowd dumbfounded outside the broken training room.

Scarlet drove us back to our duty soon. She had a emergency meeting with other directors. Since I was not a member in the team in charge of VR training room technology, I couldn't attend. Bored, I opened up the web again and was reminded of something, so I went to the company's faculty page.

So that awful looking scientist, Hojo, was the head of R&Ds, and the medical specialist for SOLDIER. So…he was taking care of those soldiers? He didn't look like a good caretaker at all.

I tried to click into his bio but all of his research was classified information for the company. Regular employee like me was not authorized to see. I then closed the browser.

One day after, everyone in the company knew about the news that three 1st class SOLDIERs made a huge mess in the training room. Cissnei came to my lab again and called out right after she entered,

"Hey, Anlila, did you heard about what happened in the training room?"

"Of course."

Meanwhile I was gasping at Scarlet's email. They almost cleaved the training room into pieces and were using explosive magic in it, causing lots of burning and eruption. The expensive VR system was completely destroyed. We had to move a huge portion from our budget of weapon development to fix the system, just the system, not the hardware. And that portion of money equals one and half year of my salary.

I showed the number to Cissnei. She gulped, "Wow, what happened."

"Not sure," I shook my head, "I saw Genesis was injured, and the other two looked upset. The directors were raging out too. You can imagine how Scarlet gets. And that Hojo's face was so dark that you could make pancake with it. So…what will happen to the SOLDIERs? Will they get punished?"

"Punished?" Cissnei widened her eyes as if my question was strange, then she shrugged, "How could they be? They are 1st class. At most they will get a warning and pay some fine."

"Really…"

I thought of Hojo's condescending tone and Sephiroth's passive demeanor. I felt that they wouldn't get away with it as easily as Cissnei said.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, maybe it is just me, but…" I hesitated a little, but still told the truth, "I saw Hojo commanding them. He acted as if…as if he controls the 1sts. I thought he's gonna to something to them."

Her expression froze slightly as she heard the word "control". Soon it turned into an unfathomable, sarcastic smile, a common look for the Turks. I noticed that she almost always had a smile on her face, but its temperature and emotion varied.

"Hojo was just making them get a physical examination to see if there is any injury," she replied with a weird tone, "after all, they are all…special. They have to be well-protected outside the battlefield."

"Huh…?"

I didn't quite understand her, but I felt a little bit cold out of no where, as if I just walked somewhere the sun couldn't reach.

"Anyway, that's just what I heard from rumors! " Cissnei seemed to realize her slip of the tongue, and switched to a joyful voice, "It's almost Summer Festival. Should we go out, just like last year, to the central market?"

That reminded me of those dango in my fridge. I shook my head and said I would have work to do as an excuse.

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[1] Dango is a very common Japanese sweet made from mochiko, related to mochi. I assume Wutai will have something similar.


	7. Chapter 7

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

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Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

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[Chapter 7]

It seemed to me that the fight in the training room was a prologue to an upcoming break. During the next two months, a large number of 2nd and 3rd class SOLDIERs disappeared, followed by Genesis. No one knew why he left and where he went. In order to put the Wutai war to an end, the Turks had to go around the world to recruit new members for SOLDIER, and the rest of the troops stayed to train.

This sudden change disoriented everyone. The Public Safety Department went into complete chaos. Budget and development stage for our department were affected too. But since I was not involved in any large-scale project, I didn't know the details. I only needed to adjust my schedule to check on standard weapon manufacture.

In October, Angeal, Sephiroth and the 1st class nominee Zack were going to lead a elite troop to Wutai to send the last bit of pressure on that city. The day before they left, Angeal came to me for the first time for maintenance for his buster sword.

Obviously he was depressed. In the past he would talk to me about gardening or cooking, but today he was silent as a stone.

Of course I knew Genesis was the reason. Something must have happened that day they went into the training room, something much more serious than going "too wild". Or else why would he leave? But I didn't think Angeal would tell me. I wanted to offer some consolation, but I didn't know what to say. So I only cleaned the buster sword wordlessly.

Angeal was sitting in a chair opposite to me, looking around aimlessly. Suddenly his whole body tightened. I paused my work and followed his view. He was staring at a _Monthly Gardening _on the other table. I just bought it so I remember what was on it. It had a Banora apple tree on its over - everyone knew that Banora was their hometown. Genesis loved the dumb apple so much that he always had _Loveless_ on one hand and the apple on the other hand. Undoubtedly, Angeal was reminded of his friend.

He picked up the magazine and flipped through the pages. I could tell he was not really reading at all. Shortly after, he put it done again and dropped his head, still didn't say anything. I couldn't take this heavy air anymore, so I asked,

"Sir, what…what happened to Mr. Rhapsodos? "

"…"

Instead of an answer, he just sighed with sadness in his eyes. A ominous feeling raised up in my heart as if something bad was going to happen. Then he finally spoke,

"Everyone said he betrayed Shinra. What do you think?"

"Well.." I murmured, "I…I don't know. I don't know very well."

Angeal gave me a look as if my response was unexpected. I then said,

"But, you must know him well, because he is your friend. If he is your friend, he definitely is not a bad person. So…he must have his reasons for leaving the company."

Angeal's gloomy face lighted up slightly, but the grief in his eyes did not go away. After a long silence, he asked again,

"What would you think if I leave Shinra one day?"

The sense of obnoxiousness exploded in my chest. I raised my head immediately, trying to catch him in the eyes. Though he had his eyes down, I still noticed that they were not typical mako-blue, but had a soft, natural grayish blue. It meant that he didn't receive as much mako bath to strengthen himself. I thought of the look on his face whenever he cleaned buster sword, his lectures about dreams and honor, how he took care of plants on floor 49, and how warmly he treated everyone younger as a mentor and sometimes, like a father…those memories crammed my head and stirred my feelings. I couldn't help but stopped the work on hand and rushed all the words out of my mind,

"Mr. Hewley, if, if you leave too, I believe you also have your reasons. But…but, how bad do things have to be that even _you_ would choose to leave?"

"…"

He froze again, and didn't reply. I knew I wouldn't get a answer this time. I cleaned the sword and went through all the repairing process before giving it back. Then I walked him out of the lab. As always, he held up the sword vertically in front with both hands and pressed his forehead against the wide blade, as if he was praying. The only thing different was that this time the prayer lasted longer than usual. After a few seconds, he put it on his back, turned around, and gave me a smile. That was the first smile I received from him today.

"Anlila," he asked in his usual tone, "being a weapon specialist…is this your dream?"

I shook my head in bewilderment.

"No…not really."

"What is your dream, then?"

He spoke very softly, in the same way a mentor instructing an innocent apprentice. To make him feel better, I didn't speak of all the crazy fantasies I had before joining Shinra Academy, but picked something that sounded almost stupid.

"I…I want to quit my job before forty years old, and start a bakery in Midgar, with my own pastries and coffees. The customers might hear about my past from here and there. So they will talk about my identity secretly when they visit my store, speak of things like…she used to work for Shinra, she was a weapon specialist, why would she start a bakery, that's so mysterious…or something like that…"

"Ha!"

Angeal finally laughed. Then he gave me an encouraging look full of meaning which I couldn't fully grasp, and patted me on the shoulder.

"Then…hold on to your dreams, and no matter what happens, never let go of your honor as a…"

He paused, as he searched through all the equipments behind me, and his eyes finally settled on the work station, forge and quench tank. Then he continued,

"…never let go of your honor as a sword maker."

Then he walked away without looking back. I stared at his departing figure and another apprehension occurred to me at this moment - this would probably be the last time I ever see him.

—TBC—


	8. Chapter 8

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

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Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

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[Chapter 8]

The next day, Angeal, Sephiroth and Zack left with their troops. The Turks were having more and more missions. Other soldiers were also getting busy in other places of the world. Though I didn't know about the company situation well, I could feel that Shinra's dominance have come to a bottleneck phase. Tons of hidden crisis sprouted and bloomed in the dark. I sat in the lab everyday, while anxiety and loss in my heart grew stronger.

It didn't take that long for the missing SOLDIER incident to exacerbate. A large number of "Genesis copies" were sighted in Wutai - soldiers who had Genesis' face. The fact that those copies turned their swords against Shinra officially made Genesis a traitor of the company.

When the word of Wutai war being over reached the company, another piece of news arrived as well: my apprehension was accurate. Angeal did not come back with the troops.

Though it was not yet official, the company believed that he has turned a traitor as well.

Floor 49 became emptier than the past, while other floors were crammed with rumors and gossips. I never had the chance to fix up Genesis' rapier in fear anymore, and I never could listen to Angeal sharing his family recipe anymore. And Sephiroth, the one who was left behind - that was the impression I received - became more and more silent. The already rare smile almost completely left his face. He turned down a lot of missions, and stayed in the research library all day long.

After the new year, our department started a new project, but I was not selected in the team. I waited till they finished the first meeting and Scarlet strutted out in her swinging dress.

"Director…"

I stood up and approached her.

"Ah, Anlila," she gave me an arrogant glance from her height, "what do you want?"

"Is there any new project for me, Director?"

She let out her signature "kya-ha-ha-ha" laughter and crossed her arm in a cheesy way, "If you are so bored, then why not try to make Masamune into something you can summon?"

Two other engineers were whispering to each other on across the room. They turned away as soon as I looked at them. I stood outside the meeting room, in the cold, for a long time. Then I went to Scarlet and asked for permission to get to floor 63, the research library. I said I needed to look into past research. She signed the application form without looking. After obtaining approval, I swiped my card in to the library. Sephiroth heard the noise and walked out behind one of the book shelves.

"Mr. Sephiroth."

He had a document named _History of Shinra Science Department _in his hands. Those silver hair at the sides of his face casted a shadow over his tired-looking eyes. He nodded briefly to me as a response.

"Did you request to…to turn Masamune into a weapon that you can summon?"

"Summon?" he raised an eyebrow, "No."

"I see. Well…director must be joking then."

I muttered. Scarlet _was_ making fun of me. He'd never ask for this because it was impossible with our technology.

Sephiroth turned back to the shelves to look for some document. I could tell he was upset, needless to say, because of Angeal and Genesis. In fact, I felt really upset for the same reason, too. Especially for Angeal's disappearance. I might be nothing to him, but to me he kind of took up the role of my former instructor who passed away before I entered Shinra. But what was bothering me the most was Angeal's words before he left. The reason to leave Shinra…what possibly could have happened to make him make that choice?

Sephiroth pulled out a large, heavy book, which made a loud noise shaking. He walked to a coach across the room speedily and sat down. The coach squeaked. Then he started to flip through the pages in a pace impossible for reading, making a constant flapping sound. I noticed that his fingertips were rumpling the pages. I couldn't stand the noise anymore and raced up to him.

"Mr. Sephiroth, is there any news about Genesis and Angeal?"

The sun of early Spring passed through the window and dropped a soft light filter on half of his outline, while throwing the other half of his face in shadow. He flipped through another page, eyes still focused on the book, and replied,

"Shinra sent me to execute them."

"Ex…_ execute_?"

I repeated stupidly, my jaw dropped. I couldn't comprehend this word. Sephiroth's voice was as cold as glacier. I felt the sweat on my back froze to ice and fell broken on the ground. After a long, long pause, I heard my own voice saying,

"How could this happen? Mr. Hewley…he, he has to have his reasons! He will never be a traitor!"

Sephiroth's face grew dark immediately. He closed the book loudly and when he sat up again, the gloomy expression was gone as if it never showed up at the first place. Then he stood up and said,

"Anlila, can you get me coffee from the café."

I walked out of the door in stiff steps, entered the elevator and pressed "3". Probably because the elevator was going down so fast, I felt dizzy and cold, my brain gummy like a bunch of mash potato.

With familiar music, the elevator opened. The smell of coffee and pastry rushed to my nose. I saw employees came and go on this floor. Male colleagues sitting together with drinks in their hands, commenting on each other's tie. Well-dressed female colleagues gathered in small groups, having exquisite desserts, chatting in soft voices. A few children of the employees were running around the lounge. Looking down to the middle court, I could see tourists marveling at the souvenirs sold in 2nd floor. All of these were familiar. This was the Shinra I knew. But…

I got two coffees and was ready to go back up, but Sephiroth showed up behind me all of a sudden and took one cup from my hand, then he walked to the lounge. I had no choice but follow up. He picked a corner coach relatively distant from other people. I sat down across him as if I was sitting down on a iced lake. Since this was inside the company, all employees were used to his presence. Unlike crazy fans, they felt more of an awe toward him and nobody really dare to disturb him, so no one looked in our direction. I sighed in relief.

"The research library is closely monitored. You better think twice before you speak in there."

"I'm so sorry! I, I just…"I was rambling again, "why…why such an arbitrary decision? Can we, um, file a petition or something to the company, so they can rethink about it?"

"Petition?" he repeated, the tone of last syllable went up sarcastically. The ridicule in his voice was more than obvious, "What do you think Shinra is? Your student union?"

I shut my mouth instantly. Those emerald eyes made a brief stop on my face. Then Sephiroth leaned back against the chair, staring at me like he was a professor looking at a straight F student,

"Why did you choose to work at Shinra?"

"Um…"

I made a pitiful sound. Impatience was growing on his face, so I forced myself to answer,

"I, I grew up in Midgar. My parents both worked for Shinra, I never thought about working anywhere else…I was gonna apply to business department, but couldn't get in, so I chose this major. But…I couldn't do well in engineering either so that put large-scale project out of consideration. I, I was okay at swordsmithing, researching in materia and such with my instructor, that's why I ended up here…"

My voice went weaker and weaker as I spoke. I sounded _so_ lame. And I couldn't bring myself to look into the light from those emerald eyes. But at last I still raised my voice to him in a pitiful self-apology.

"Does, does this matter? I don't understand…"

Sephiroth snorted without any indication of smile on his face. He threw a hand to his forehead for a second and said,

"So you have no idea about Shinra's doing."

"What…what do you mean?"

I felt like a retard again.

He sighed after a long pause and turned his eyes away from me.

"Nothing. Forget about it. Shinra filters information according to a basis. Knowing too much won't do you any good."

That sentence, that tone, were like a bucket of icy water poured down my head. I held my breath and asked,

"Why is that?"

"Because you are not ready to survive in the world of Shinra," he replied instantly, his eyes as cold as his voice, "this is but the tip of an iceberg. It is just a coincidence that it's related to someone you care about. Forget it, and troubles stay away. You can still have your life."

Some string in my head just exploded. I didn't even fully processed his words, but I already felt humiliated. I have encountered many denials in my life but none of them shamed me this much. I pressed my hands on the table and stuck my body forward to him, protested impulsively,

"Why?_ I_'m not ready to survive in the world of Shinra, and…and you are?"

It was after a few seconds, I finally realized what I have done. I gasped, sat back in a hurry and covered my mouth. Thank Leviathan the lounge were noisy and my voice was not that loud, so no one noticed. Sephiroth's eyes blinked at my question and he did not reply. I pinched my hands tightly and stared at him, both wanting an answer and fearing an answer. After a long time, he just stood up and finished the last sip of his coffee,

"It is almost Fall break, Anlila. Why don't you go visit your parents?"

Then he tossed the cup in trashcan and left me sat there with my cold drink.

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Right now Anlila might sound like a retard. But shinra does filter information and control the media. Growing up in the upper Midgar bubble, and having experienced all the luxury Shinra brought to her life, I assume she doesn't know better, not yet. Also I hope I made it clear enough that she started as a dawdler and she is not used to question a lot of things. But that will change.


	9. Chapter 9

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 9]

I sat with my cold coffee for a long time after Sephiroth left.

Indeed, the Fall break was coming. I also _did_ book my tickets early to Costa Del Sol to visit my parents. The housing price in Midgar was too insane. After retiring from Shinra Urban Development, they bought a little house in Costa Del Sol. Though their pension couldn't last in Midgar, it was more than enough to live comfortably in another city. Occasionally, my dad would do some small projects with local people, and my mom developed interests like weaving and gardening.

"I told you not to bring anything. We have everything here."

Dad was waiting for me by the door and picked up the large box of desserts from my hand. Mom prepped lunch already and she greeted me with a hug.

"How's work?"

"Good." I forced a smile, "my colleagues are all nice. And the workload is reasonable."

"As long as it is not dangerous. Your mom heard you are working with SOLDIERs and she wouldn't stop worrying."

"Oh, it's ok, really. I'm not involved in fighting, and the SOLDIERs are all nice people."

I didn't mention that I was working for 1sts, because that would make them worry even more.

"So Wutai war is finally over. I have no idea why Godo insists in fighting for so long, as if he could really stop Shinra. What's so bad about having mako reactor in their city? If he just agree at the beginning that'd save him these eight years of work…" Dad scooped a spoon of meat stew, then he asked, "speaking of which, what's going on about the two traitors?"

"Trai-traitors…"

I repeated after him, failing to connect this word to Angeal. So I couldn't answer. Mom slapped him on the shoulder and rebuked,

"Stop bothering her with all these company questions. She's on break. "

Then she turned to me,

"You are not coming back for New Year, right? Take care of yourself. Go to the company party if you could."

"Okay."

I swallowed the soup she cooked, but couldn't taste anything.

When I left for Midgar, my parents drove me to the train station. Before I departed, I looked at them very carefully. They both aged very well and were still healthy, though the trace of time was still visible on their faces. The train arrived and my dad took off the sunglasses he always wore to be cool, and smiled at me. I noticed the wrinkles around his eyes,

"Take care of yourself, Anlila."

After that break, whenever I saw Sephiroth or Zack, or any other people who reminded me of Angeal, I'd immediately thought of the time my parents bid me farewell at the station.

I didn't try to ask anyone about Angeal anymore.

In December, the Turks and Zack went to Banora, hometown of Genesis and Angeal, to look for them. They only found out that Genesis killed everyone in the village. After the Turks evacuated the area, they bombed Banora to clean all traces of "traitor of Shinra", and covered it up for the press.

Is that what Sephiroth mean with "Shinra's doing"? This was the first time I actually heard something like this, but even then I could come to the conclusion that they 've done it much more. When Cissnei told me about the mission, I couldn't let out any question buried in my mind, so instead I just stared out of the window.

"Sephiroth turned down this mission again. He should have been the one to do it," Cissnei followed my eyes and we could only see the grey sky of Midgar, "The other two 1sts are his only friends. He probably…doesn't want to face them as an enemy."

The second new year after I entered Shinra was approaching. I lied to my colleague that I was going to visit my parents, and spent the new year's eve alone in my apartment watching TV. In February, the company officially announced the end of Wutai war, and was holding a press conference in Junon, featuring President Shinra. Besides him, selected representatives from all departments also had to attend, and I was one of those for Weapon Development.

I always loved the beach, and I even checked in my location on social media when we were still on the ship. But as soon as I got off, I felt uncomfortable about Junon. The quiet, exotic town I used to know was gone. Instead I saw a large fortress and military basement heavily guarded, covered in flags with Shinra logo. The Sister Ray crouched like a colossal monster by the seashore under the setting sun.

This feeling bothered me for no reason. I excused myself from colleagues' suggestion to go shopping and retired to my room for the whole night.

The next morning, I showered and dressed up in business attire., then arrived at the auditorium with other representatives for the press conference. We didn't have to do anything except standing behind the President when he give his speech. Though we were just in the back row, we were still blinded by the flashlights from all those cameras. I couldn't imagine how the president felt.

During the intermission, from a few feet away, I saw the wrinkles and the tired look on his fat face. I felt amused and pity at the same time.

Soon the conference resumed. The first question during the later half was why Shinra was so successful. President Shinra cleared his throat and said,

_"These days, all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power…" [1]_

At that moment the bright lighting in the auditorium flickered and then went out.

"What the hell?"

The microphone stopped working too. President Shinra's voice drowned in all the screaming from the crowd.

We froze in the dark, facing a row of camera flashes, until gunshots and gunfire woke us. Screams, footsteps, and cries soon burst out in the dark. I leaned on the background board while other employees pushed against me from every direction. A bullet passed by the president and shot into someone behind him. the smell of blood and painful gasp stirred up even bigger panic. Then more bullets flew to us. In this complete chaos, I heard people yelling things like "protect the President!", "its AVALANCHE!" , and "contact Sephiroth!". Random footsteps pounded on the ground. One person tripped over my leg and fell down and was swearing. I probably should run too, but to where? Right when I was wondering, someone grabbed my wrists in the dark and pulled my arms behind me, and another pair of hands searched for PHS and a walkie-talkie from my pocket.

Not someone in Shinra. That texture of coarse, cheap leather pressed against my skin. Neither SOLDIER or Turks wore that kind of gloves. Then, I felt something hard and cold pressed against my back. A gun.

* * *

[1] Best line from President Shinra! His other best line must be "L...for losers." to Rufus.

This chapter's incident is based on AVALANCHE's attempt on the president's assassination during Before Crisis. I've never played BC and couldn't really get hold of the script so I am just making things up...


	10. Chapter 10

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

_Elfe of the AVALANCHE is finally here! Love her design!_

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 10]

"Keep quiet. Don't try anything, just walk."

With someone holding back my arms, I staggered out of the auditorium. Bright daylight flushed down and I couldn't keep my eyes open. It took me a few blinks to finally see the people around me. They were "AVALANCHE" soldiers. Four of them, in black, were walking around me, shooting the Shinra guards who caught up to us. They led me near the Sister Ray and lifted open an entrance on the floor to an underground tunnel.

The AVALANCHE member behind me gave me a push, and I fell down into the tunnel. We walked for about five minutes and a metal door appeared in front.

"Get in!"

He gave me another push and I stumbled through that door.

This place was surprisingly spacious, and it looked like the front cabin of an airship. Control panels, screens and engines filled up the space. I then realized this was the control room of Sister Ray. A few more AVALANCHE members were guarding the room and all stared at me with cold eyes.

I looked around and then found out that a young girl was sitting in front of the control desk. She was not in the AVALANCHE uniform, nor in a helmet. She wore a set of celadon outfit, her hands stacked on her knee. A long, thin katana was laying against the desk. She had short brown hair, her eyes were glowing light green, so light that they looked almost hollow, and her skin was so pale that she almost seemed sick.

"Anlila Rain," slowly, the girl stood up and walked to me, her voice clear and fragile as thin glass, "I am Elfe, leader of AVALANCHE. We learned that you are a specialist in materia fusing, and we'd like to invite you to work with our scientist to build a weapon for me."

"A, AVALANCHE…"

I forced myself out from this disaster of being kidnapped by this infamous terrorist group. I stood there in the middle of the control room and my limbs started to wobble.

"I can compensate you." She suggested without any indication of sincerity.

"Compensate…?"

I grumbled after her. My senses were coming back and my slow brain finally started to resume its work. Now I felt humiliated. Anger began to burn inside my. I heard noise from fighting outside the room and that gave me some sort of courage. I licked my dried lips and said,

"Wha - what do you guys want? You are here to assassinate the president, aren't you? And by the way, to kidnap me here? I, I'm telling you, the company is after you and they will be here soon…"

Elfe sighed lightly as if she anticipated my reaction already.

" , you are no match for AVALANCHE. After we fire toward Midgar, we will take you to our base. Please wait right here."

"Fire? Don't tell me that you are…" I stepped backward until my back pushed against a wall. Then I pointed at her with one hand and raised my voice, "No, you won't start the Sister Ray and I'll never make any weapon for you!"

She blinked a few times looking a little surprised at my fight back. I felt as if I was winning to some degree. My strength, which went away from fear, was coming back. So I faked a strong voice and yelled,

"You are all terrorists! You, you try to bomb mako reactors, steal our shipments, kidnap our managers and send spy into our company. That's all terrorists' doing! I won't work for you!"

"Is it?"

Elfe lowered her eyes in silence. Her ban fell on her eyes. Later, she raised up to me again.

"Of course…I was unwise.

"Of course, you don't need any compensation. You are born in Midgar, guaranteed attendance to Shinra Academy, and never been on a team for large-scale weaponry. All the news you watch have been edited by Shinra. Your social media page is full of bullshit like flowers, DIY, art, and food pictures."

She sighed again as if she was lecturing a terrible student, but she continued,

"Then, Anlila, have you seen the life in the slums? Have you seem the lifestream drained by mako reactor? Do you know how many cities have Shinra bombed? Shinra 'negotiated' with Wutai for eight years because the latter refused to build mako reactor on their land, what have they done? Have you seen the homes …destructed, by the swords _you_ built?"

I gazed blankly over her shoulder. My eyes fell on the list of names of members who built the Sister Ray on the opposite wall. Elfe sighed again as she saw my reaction, and picked up her katana,

"If this is it, then…"

She came up to me and raised her hand. The cold gloss of her katana was right in front of my eyes.

"I am sorry, then, but I've heard about what you did with Genesis's rapier. We don't' want enemies with that power."

I saw my own death reflected in her olive-colored eyes.

She spent a few seconds to save up some strength. Then the shining blade lifted up high, and came down toward me. I closed my eyes feeling the swift air stirred up by the movement.

At the next second, a larger gust of wind blew across me with a familiar fragrant smell, then I heard the sound of metal collide.

Her katana blade did not reach me. I put down my hands and shakily opened my eyes. I saw all the AVALANCHE members nervously raised up their guns at my direction. A dark, tall figure was standing in front of me, holding horizontally a extremely long sword, which blocked Elfe's attack.

The stern image in her eyes finally cracked. She stared at this uninvited guest for a few seconds and lowered her katana, then backed up a few steps.

The person in front of me walked up to her in such elegant steps as if he was on the expensive carpet in Shinra office. I looked up to him. His glow lighted up the room just as the first time we met.

"Sephiroth…"

"Well met."

He said very dully.

Elfe didn't answer and pressed both hands on the katana. She lowered her body and her grey mantle flew up behind her. At the same time, all of her comrades fired together - at us. I screamed and shut my eyes again, my body already stiff like a corpse. In the infinite darkness, a strong force took hold of my shoulder, pulled me back and started to push me around. I heard sound of the wind and metal colliding again. The swift air roused by movements of blades cut my face like winter wind, as it blew off the smell of gun smoke. Maybe thirty seconds passed, maybe a minute, the gunshots stopped and the hand on my shoulder went away.

I opened my eyes again, afraid. It was hell in front of me and I almost screamed again.

All the AVALANCHE members were lying on the ground. Their goggles, helmets and clothes intact. Thing streams of blood flowed under their bodies.

Sephiroth stood in front of me. There was a slit on his left upper arm and blood was dripping from it. Elfe, holding her sword, stood ten steps away from him.

"You…you…"

Elfe pushed forth this phrase in between her teeth, her voice full of hatred and sounded like broken glass.

She pressed down her blade again and raced to Sephiroth. The soldier lifted Masamune with both hands, raised his elbows, and his feet parted. Then he strode up elegantly. After that I couldn't identify their movements because that kind of speed was not meant for human eyes. I could only see their swords became two strips of silver light. They were not even making any sound this time except howling wind and intermittently blasting sparks.

Their fight almost overturned this control room. Every attack seemed to be dodged or blocked by the other person. After a few rounds of back and forth, they both fell back to their feet and left a distance in between them. Sephiroth raised an eye brow as if he saw a worthy opponent.

But Elfe obviously didn't feel appreciated. She threw her left hand up the air and a materia glowed somewhere in her arm. Fire magic exploded around Sephiroth. He blocked it with his sword. Then she lifted the katana and casted another spell, the glow on her left arm growing brighter. A spinning blue sphere formed above her blade. She swung her sword to Sephiroth and hurled the light sphere straightly toward him.

"Sephy!"

I cried. He didn't back off. Instead he led forward and cleaved the sphere in half. His force not only penetrated the magic, it even reached Elfe. She fell back hastily to discharge his attack. When she was about to fight back, I heard her moaned in pain. Then her body started slumping and she thrashed the katana into the floor to stop herself from falling.

Sephiroth forcefully paused his movement as he saw her collapse. Elfe then let go of the katana. It made a loud sound falling to the ground. She pressed down hard on the source of pain - her left hand. Even from this far away I could see the blue veins on her skinny arm.

Sephiroth was stunned for a moment. Then he seemed to find out something. He back off one step, reached out the Masamune, and used the blade to lift up her right palm that was covering tightly her left hand. I almost fell to the ground in fear when I saw what was underneath-

She was wearing a pair of regular gloves with no materia slot. The materia which she used to cast magic from, was embedded in the back of her hand!

How…how is that possible…to implant a materia in human flesh!?

I pressed my chest to hold back the nausea. I wanted to look away but couldn't take my eyes off her. The materia was light pink, with foggy texture floating inside as her pulse raise up and down.

I couldn't see Sephiroth's expression as he was standing sideway to me. After a long and awkward silence, he suddenly spoke with a deep voice,

"Your strength is impressive."

When this wave of pain finally passed, Elfe hid the back of her hand away and picked up her sword, slowly picked herself up. Her face was paler than ever and covered in cold sweat, but those blank, green eyes let out a weak beam.

"Hah…"

She leaned back against the control desk and smiled, looking weary and panting heavily,

"I don't remember anything about my past…my family… the only thing I know is…AVALANCHE is my family. I fight for them. Even…even if that materia…is draining my life….."

"But you…" those lightly colored eyes shined brightly as if all of her life and energy were concentrated in there, "You are also…very strong, Sephiroth, but you couldn't…beat me. Have you thought about…what are you fighting for?"

Sephiroth's body froze slightly. He didn't reply, but lowered Masamune.

"Go,"

He even waved his blade to point at the exit, "tell your comrade to pick you up. The Turks are coming."

And then he turned to me as if Elfe was not in the room, swinging the non-existent blood off his sword,

"Anlila, go stop the Mako Cannon."

* * *

Tocasia, thank you so much for your comment. Yes, it is not like I prefer a colder Sephiroth, but I can't really imagine a super friendly Sephy…that would seem strange to me, haha! Don't get me wrong, I still think in CC he is a pretty nice person (while Genesis can be really mean), and he will definitely joke around with his friends, but I can't imagine him being very nice or talkative to someone he doesn't really know very well.

Also, Anlila is a very timid person and she gets nervous very easily, so the Sephiroth in her eyes is definitely more intimidating than he seems to someone else. If will be a completely different impression from Zack or Angeal, or even fan girls who just want to see him...you know...

I also believe that the timid/shy type sometimes could annoy Sephiroth (definitely Genesis too). Because it means some extra emotion shit that he has to attend to...I guess? It is almost like this frustration "ugh shit i'm scarying this person again". But I think this is common, a lot of people can be annoyed by extra-shy type. This is just my impression, though ; )


	11. Chapter 11

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 11]

When Elfe left, she also ordered all other AVALANCHE members to retreat with her. I took care of the Mako Cannon shorty - everyone in our department had to go through the same training. Then, Sephiroth and I were standing in the control room, on top of a few dead AVALANCHE soldiers, waiting speechlessly for the Turks to come.

I shrunk into the corner as much as possible to avoid facing the deaths on the floor. Then I suddenly thought of something very important. I reached every pockets just to realize that one of the AVALANCHE soldiers took my PHS and walkie-talkie. And that member left after I entered this room.

"Um…Mr. Sephiroth…"

I asked, staring at my feet,

"May I borrow your cellphone to make a call? AVALANCHE made a big news during the press conference. My parents must have seen it on TV already."

He took out his phone and handed to me. I dialed my parent's home phone. The call went through. I took a deep breath and switched to a lighthearted, normal tone.

"Hey mom, did you see the news? Yeah…it's alright. No, I didn't go to Junon. My phone is broken and I am using my colleague's phone. Yes. I'm, umm, I'm shopping with my co-workers. Don't worry. Imma hang up now, please tell dad I said hi."

Yes, I lied to her. She couldn't know about any of these. I thanked Sephiroth and gave the phone back. He didn't comment on my lie at all. The impact that fight left on us started to eat us little by little. I paced around in small circles aimlessly, hoping to make time past faster. A few minutes later, a deafening ring-tone blasted in between us. Sephiroth picked up the phone and said "Hello", before he even finish the second syllable, a familiar voice yelled with rage from the speaker,

"Anlila! You little brat learned to _lie_ huh?! Your classmate told me you said you are in Junon on some god-damn websi - wait, wait, who are you?"

I snatched the phone from his hand immediately as I looked at him apologetically. Then I turned to my mom.

"Mom, this is my colleague's phone! You shouldn't call it like this…I'm really okay. I just don't want to worry you and dad. That's why I lied…yes, my phone got lost…no I'm not hurt, this is just an accident…"

I kept apologizing to my mom, and swore that I'd visit them and kneel on the keyboard as a punishment this weekend. She finally was appeased - of course I didn't mention anything about being kidnapped by AVALANCHE. While I dealt with her reprimand, I peeked at Sephiroth's reaction. He must find this ridiculous.

However, to my surprise, he was leaning against the control desk, his arms crossed. There was zero sarcasm or mockery on his face, nor impatience. Contrarily, he was frowning slightly, listening to our conversation intensely with all attention, as if he was trying to understand some deep, hard lecture.

I was shocked by his expression. Then I lowered my voice.

"Mom, please, I really have to go. I'll call you when I get back."

"I'm really sorry. I don't think she'll call you again. "

"It's fine."

As soon as he looked at me, his face become blank again.

"Well, thank you…thank you for saving me," I dropped my head and finally recalled what to say, "And also…thank you for reminding me of my parents…that day. You were right, I'm not ready…to know more. "

He seemed to smirk a little, but it was not a real smile, more like a sneer, though there was not malice in it. To be honest I was really sick of fake smiles, no matter it was from him, or Cissnei, or Scarlet. He didn't know what I was thinking though. Staring at the ground, Sephiroth spoke with a calm, all-knowing tone,

"Family…as soon as you mention it, then people will empathize. "

This reasoning really stunned me. I didn't know how to feel. I felt really offended at first, but at the same time I also felt…sad, for him to be able to speak about family so apathetically.

"Mr. Sephiroth…didn't you have a caretaker when you were young?"

"Caretaker?" His expression darkened as if he remembered some unpleasant memory from the past, "I wish I had none."

—TBC—

Poor Sephy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 12]

The Turks arrived shortly after the phone call. Sephiroth was called to the president right away after we went above ground, and I reunited with other employees and left for Midgar.

After I got back from Junon, I told everyone that my social media account has been hacked and I cleared all my accounts, locking up all the pretty photography, food, DIYs. But I knew that was just a hypocritical act to make myself feel better. Elfe would not come for me again.

This incident stayed for a few days in people's conversation and was forgotten as well, just like what happened to Genesis and Angeal. They were treated as if they've never existed in the company.

With fewer clients, I was even more free than before. Out of boredom, I searched "summon weapon" in the company database.

…He saved my life. If I could really make Masamune a summon weapon, then that could be a way to express my gratitude.

Unfortunately, I searched through the entire database but didn't find anything. There were only two ways to create a summon weapon: find a materia for space magic, or condense the physical material of the weapon. The former has never showed up in our planet, and the latter was impossible for our technology. But thinking Shinra had the best scientists in the world, maybe they'd have some insights. So I visited the faculty website of Shinra Science Department.

The first figure was of course Hojo, the director. I've already seen his file and couldn't access more, so I passed him to look for someone specialized in material science. Suddenly, the name "Hollander" caught my eyes.

This name…I've heard it before. I made an effort to recall, and remembered that he Hojo told Angeal to go see this Hollander after the 1sts fought in the training room. One of his title was also medical specialist for SOLDIERs.

Out of curiosity, I clicked his page, scanned though some useless info, then this line came up under his "research",

"_Copy technology used to produce elite troops"_

Copy technology? Wasn't this…the technology that created soldiers with Genesis' faces?

My hand squeezed the mouse tightly as I was going to read into it. But the website went down all of a sudden. I punched my keyboard, kept hitting refresh but that site never worked again. I knew Shinra was always very careful about its website and would always make notification for any maintenance. This situation could only mean that this person experienced personnel changes and his information had to be taken down from the company website.

I closed that tab and typed "Shinra Hollander" in public search engine. Then an ad popped up.

SHINRA TRUTHS? The most up-to-date news and live report? What is this? I signed up for its membership and my phone rang. Then I clicked my mailbox, which I haven't attended to at all in the past few days. Apparently the company sent a personnel announcement the day before.

"_This is an official notification of the change in status for the following personnel._

_Angeal Hewley - SOLDIER 1st Class:_

_Killed in action_

_Genesis Rhapsodos - SOLDIER 1st Class:_

_Killed in action"_

They were….dead?

I had thought about this situation before - even if Sephiroth refuse to go after them, someone else would. I thought I'd scream or drop my phone, butmy fingers did not even tremble. I just felt unreal. I skipped other trash in the mailbox and clicked on the first news email from Shinra Truths.

"_Two SOLDIER operatives reported as K.I.A. were spotted_

_alive. Both Genesis and Angeal were seen entering the_

_apple processing factory in Banora. In fact, my source_

_tells me he saw MORE than one Genesis appearing-one_

_after another in succession. Hollander of the Science_

_Department was also present._

_One can assume that Genesis and Angeal are involved in_

_clandestine experiments taking place at the factory._

_I have since lost contact with my source, and I_

_can only pray that he is safe."_

More than one Genesis? Clandestine experiments?

"_They are all…special. They have to be well-protected outside the battlefield.__"_

Cissnei's words echoed in my mind again.

I stood up from my seat as I dialed Sephiroth's phone number and walked out of the lab. My heart was pounding heavily and I couldn't think at all. This sounded wrong, so wrong. Something was off, and I had one impulse only - I just wanted to know what happened.

No one was picking up. I waited as I paced back and forth in the hallway. At that moment, the alarm went off, and then an explosion blew up and the floor shook. I held onto the railings as the entire hallway was lighted up by the red alarm lights. Everyone ran out of their office.

"_Emergency! Emergency! A large number of intruders have broken into Midgar! All SOLDIERs, assemble at headquarters entrance! All Turk members, assemble at Sector 8! Other employees, evacuate immediately through the emergency route!"_

I ran to the elevator with everyone else. And then the elevator stopped at every single floor, until it overloaded. It was ridiculous. There was absolutely no proper emergency route for a 70 stories building. Finally after we got to the ground level, people started to run, and I ran toward sector 5 as well.

The road was clear for the first few minutes. SOLDIERs were helping evacuate civilians. However, as I got further and further away from the headquarters, there were fewer SOLDIERs on the way. I was getting agitated. Every inch of the shadow under viaducts and buildings seemed to be housing danger. People were screaming from all directions.

Finally I came to a stop at a cross road after a clear, deafening scream which was not too far away, frightened. I came near the No. 5 mako reactor. It was hunching under Midgar's depressing sky as a giant monster, and ready to swallow me any time. I stood at the intersection, looking around helplessly. The entire city was spinning in my views and there were enemies from every corner…

I couldn't take it anymore and started to sprint back to the headquarters'' direction. Then a white light dashed across my sight as if a large bird just flew passed me. I shut my eyes and got hit onto the floor. After I opened my eyes again, a four-legged monster with wings on its back was standing in front. I had no idea what species it was.

I scraped my legs against the earth, trying to move back, but the monster flapped its wings and stormed toward me. As its wings opened broadly in the air, I saw a face on top of its chest - Angeal's face!

I screamed and covered my eyes.

A very, very subtle noise, lighter then the noise made by a knife when slicing into an apple, almost ignorable. But I knew what it meant. I then heard the pounding sound of something heavy hitting the floor. I let go of my hands and raised my head, trembling.

The monster with Angeal's face was in pieces, decaying into a handful of dust. Sephiroth was in front of me with Masamune in one hand, his long silver hair and leather coat fluttering in wind. I got up on my feet and craned my neck to check on him. He did not even look at me, his eyes gazing somberly to the front - Genesis was floating in air across the street, still in his red leather jacket and the red rapier in his hand. However, there was a wing, a black wing…on his back.

He still got that disdainful look on his face, as always, and was ready to say something just as scornful. But Sephiroth spoke before him, looking into his eyes,

"When will you stop this?"

"Stop?" Genesis gave him a twisted smile, "Hah! What do you care? Acting like a Shinra dog. "

Sephiroth's brows dropped as he frowned. He didn't reply but just stared at his past friend intensely, as if he was trying to catch Genesis with his eyes. I was even more unsettled by that - as far as I could recall, he rarely initiated eye contacts _this_ aggressive and forthright. As expected, Genesis was provoked. His black wing flapped once behind him, sending him to his feet, and he pointed his rapier at Sephiroth,

"Everything...is a lie!" his beautiful features and voice distorted in anger, "Family, friend, honor...all of them…"

As he spoke, he walked up to Sephiroth. The vermillion-red blade came closer and closer, almost pressing on his throat. The grudge in Genesis' voice grew deeper,

"And you, you who have nothing to lose, is still stronger than me…"

He smiled again speaking of this. That smile, paired with his eyes, which were full of resentment, was straight-up horrifying. He flailed his head dramatically and led one hand bushed down along his face, as if he was revealing a mask, acting in a fifteenth-century play.

"…and maybe that is the key. So I just have to become like you, become a perfect...monster."

Genesis' shoulder shook in laughter, as if he was talking about something amusing. I couldn't tolerate it anymore and stepped up next to Sephiroth.

"Stop, Genesis...stop it!"

I yelled with the loudest voice in my life.

"What on earth happened...what is it?! Angeal, and you...just why? Sephiroth locks himself everyday in the library trying to find out about what happened...he wants to understand you ! Is this how you respond?"

At first Genesis raised his eyelids with a little interest. Then, each time I threw out a question, the sneering smile on his lips got wider. When I finished yelling, panting, he snorted as his eyes moved back and forth in between Sephiroth and me. A sense of disdain accumulated in his mako-blue eyes,

"Hah, so, this puppet...is she your new 'friend'?"

"That's enough."

Sephiroth finally spoke again. He lowered his eyes and looked at the ground, but the blade in his hand lifted up. He turned his wrist slightly so the Masamune barred in front of my body.

"Anlila, you have no business here."

He swung the sword once. I backed off as I kept my eyes on Genesis. His smile have not faded yet. He looked at me with interest and boredom at the same time as if he trying to see how a hideous soup opera would end. I couldn't stand that look, so I turned around and ran home.


	13. Chapter 13

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 13]

It was dusk time when Midgar started to rain, just like that day I met Sephiroth at the train station. I sat on where he sat before. The curtain was half-lifted above the window. My tea was cold, and the pastries too. I sat there until it was completely dark outside and all the cries and screams stopped. Every media had to be reporting today's attack, but I had no interest in turning on TV. A few hours ago I called my mom. She kept texting me about updates but I was in no mood to reply.

The fake smiles on all of their faces, what Elfe said, Hollander's experiment, Shinra' lies, Genesis' wing, Angeal's face on the monster, execute, execute them…

I'm not stupid. I was just not used to question anything. Just like Sephiroth said, it was a coincidence that this had something to do with someone I respected, so I almost crossed that fine line. It was him who reminded me about my "family" and pulled me back.

But now, it seemed like we both lost the extra strength to pull each other back.

"Working hard, huh?"

The next day, Cissnei snatched the drawing under my hand before I could hide it. I went after her as she teased me in her sweet voice,

"Is this the Masamune? - you wanted to make it shorter?"

"…"

I shunned her hand and did not speak. She noticed it and put down the drawing. The teasing smile on her face faded.

"Tell me," I looked into her large orange-colored eyes, "The copies, Hollander, Angeal, Genesis, what's going on? Why did they leave? Why is the company after them? Why would Angeal's face show up on...monsters? You said SOLDIERs are all special, what does that supposed to mean?"

Cissnei bit her lip and stood up straight, staring at me as if I was a stranger.

"You know...I have always, always been defending Shinra...and I still am. Even when Elfe kidnapped me, I called them terrorists."

So I went on.

"I've never questioned anything until Angeal left. Why would someone as loyal as him turn against the company? Why do slums and AVALANCHE exist? What exactly is behind this military empire…"

A mixed of complex emotions that I didn't quite understand whirled in her eyes. After a long time, Cissnei replied,

"I can't tell you, Anlila. You...are not authorized for those information."

I sighed. I knew she's gonna say that. Then I cleared my throat in this awkward silence, and asked,

"Then what about Sephiroth? Can you at least tell me about that?"

"What?"

"Is he the same...to Angeal and Genesis?"

"No," she said in a soft, low voice, "Sephiroth is different."

And she said,

"You didn't have to care about these, Anlila."

I didn't respond and just gave her a brief look. The ice cold shell on her face was still perfectly intact without a single crack. We looked at each other speechlessly. A moment later, I caught a glimpse of sadness flew pass her eyes.

"It's already too late, isn't it?" she suddenly asked, "You are in love with him?"

My lower lip quivered once, and then I bit on it without making any sound. Cissnei stared at me for a while, then she suddenly turned away to look out the winder,

"Yeah, of course, I should have known...who can help but fall in love with someone who have saved their life?"

* * *

The copies soldiers were soon annihilated and the company was running like usual. Genesis and Angeal's name disappeared completely from the company, so did Hollander's website. Sephiroth never spoke to me afterwards.

I have seen him a few times when I went to lv. 49. He was walking around the elevator or the lounge, with or without Masamune in his hand. His long silver hair fluttered behind his back, and he looked like a flat shadow in space.

Every time I saw him like that, my heart was squeezed by some unknown force into a piece of flat paper too.

Summer slowly came to it end in my depression. On a night when all the electricity was out in my neighborhood, I sat by the window, bored. I spent the past month in the same way. I couldn't even bring myself to come up with some crappy design to fool Scarlet, not to mention to cook. But sometimes I felt funny too - what do all of these have to do with me anyway? I could just pretend nothing had happened, like most people in Shinra, and dawdle on. Cissnei was right, I didn't have to care.

Had someone not knocked on the door, I might just sit there until dawn. I stood up on numbed feet and walked to the entrance. Once I opened the door, the smell of dust and rain rushed in, with a gust of cold wind from outside. A tall figure was in the narrow walkway, blocking the dim emergency light. His silver hair and mako-colored eyes glowed softly in the dark.

"…Mr. Sephiroth?"

I scanned him worriedly behind the door and felt relief that there was no wound on him. He was soaked in rain. I let him in and got him a towel, and boiled some water on the stove to make tea. When I brought the tray to him, he was standing in front of the window, drying his hair with the towel as he looked at Midgar's night view. The wet leather coat was stripped down to his waist. I saw some pale scars on his bare back. Even I could tell that some of the wounds could have been deadly.

I paused my steps. He didn't turn back, but buttoned up his coat and sat down.

"Have some tea. I'm sorry, the light was out, everything is cold... this is all I have."

I pushed the cup to him.

He took it without taking a sip. The hot air rose from the cup and blurred his face. His voice was as emotionless as ever when it passed through the white fog,

"Angeal is gone."

"Huh? To...to where?"

I didn't understand what he was saying. He repeated the sentence but switched out the most important verb, as if he was trying to help someone come to terms with reality,

"Angeal is dead."

"What...what happened…"

"Hollander lost his position as head of the science division, so he began to develop a grudge against Shinra. Thinking of taking his revenge, he stole the copy technology from the company, along with Project G, a project he led before.

"The project states that Shinra uncovered a powerful cell called the Cetra, and they intended to use it to create super soldiers to cut expenses on channeling mako. The one born out of Project G was Genesis.

"The effect on him was significant. He excelled among regular SOLDIERs. But after he was wounded in the training room…Genesis started to deteriorate."

"Deteriorate?"

"Wounds not healing, growing wings…and such."

The room was cold. Heat from the tea was soon gone and Sephiroth's narration stopped. I filled his cup again like a robot until the white fog was rising up again and blurred his face once more.

"So...Genesis, after he knew about all these, he teamed up with Hollander...to take revenge on the company? The copies, and monsters, are all made with his cells?"

I asked.

He seemed to admit it with silence. I asked again,

"Revenging on the company…is it because he hated them for creating him?"

Sephiroth turned to his side and pulled up the blinds from the window. The lights from the city reflected in his eyes, and created an illusion that those emerald eyes were burning. Then he said as he looked afar,

"Banora...their hometown, is actually a cover up for Project G, in order to keep the experiments in secret and to keep monitoring the results. Genesis' parents are not really related to him, they were just sent by Shinra to keep an eye on him."

"And it's the same… for Angeal?"

Those silver-white eyelashes blinked above his green eyes. At last he gave such an answer,

"Many think 'Project G' means 'Project Genesis'. In fact, it is 'Project Gillian'. Gillian...was Angeal's mother. Hollander was his father. They were both scientists of Shinra. Though there is a difference between the way Angeal and Genesis were injected with the cell, I suppose you can say that...they are of the same kind."

I gaped my mouth as a dying fish and could not make a sound for a long time. A while passed until I found my voice back. I heard myself asking in a flustered voice,

"Then, Angeal's death...who did it…?"

Sephiroth sighed.

"He first left Shinra to stop Genesis. Then he got involved in their plan, and learned about his own birth," speaking of this, to my surprise, he let out a small, light snort that almost sounded like a chuckle,

"He couldn't go back to Shinra, but neither could he act against his own moral to help Genesis and Hollander. Those lectures...you have heard enough, haven't you? Honor as a soldier, dream, dumb apple from his friend's house, such things...and soon after, he started to deteriorate as well."

So that was it, I thought.

He couldn't come back to Shinra, couldn't follow his friend, and he also couldn't accept himself. And he was deteriorating, slowly, turning into a...monster.

So…

So he chose death.

"You know, the day those fans were chasing you in the train station, we actually left some record in cameras."

After a long, unbearable pause, I spoke.

"Director raged out at me and I became a laughingstock to our department."

Sephiroth seemed to frown a little, and I continued,

"I felt really bad. Angeal heard about it. He told me I didn't do anything wrong. He said I helped you. And then he said, SOLDIERs,_ SOLDIERs are humans, too_…

"But if this is the case, you, you are…"

I couldn't bring myself to finish that. The calm expression on his face cracked a little, but soon he put on the impassive look again, and replied as stating of a fact,

"I am different."

Before I could respond, he said again as if he was trying to persuade himself,

"I don't have a father, and my mother's name is Jenova."

I was not relieved at all hearing him speaking of his parents like this. The temporary assurance that statement gave me was brittle. I felt like I was stepping around a dark abyss, so I made my way around it and asked,

"Then...what do you plan to do? Are you going to help Genesis, or stay at Shinra, or...become the wanderer, just like in _Loveless_?"

He turned back from the window, his eyes staring on the table, a finger of his in the ear of the teacup. My breath started to turn heavy and my sight blurred,

"Human experiment, hiding facts, faking families, bombing villages, these are all wrong...aren't they? Forcing a kind, just person to this end...it's all wrong…isn't it?"

Sephiroth sat still like a statue of a hero. My breath and my eyes began to be covered in moist, and my voice quivered in pain,

"If that's the case, why not just leave?

"We can't survive in this world anymore, can we?"

He finally took a sip of the tea and said,

"Judging from what Genesis's has done, Shinra won't ever let him go."

"So, you want to stay here, and if they send you to execute him you will just let him go again, like that day...right?" my voice was getting out of control, "what if they send someone else to kill him? And what will you do after? Fight for Shinra just like before?"

Confronted by his indifference, I pushed myself up from the chair and put my phone in front of him,

"Look! SHINRA TRUTHS...have you heard of this news press? They are very well connected! They said that Genesis and Angeal were sighted right after the company announced they were K.I.A! You can just sign up and track…"

"Anlila," Sephiroth suddenly raised his eyes to me and interrupted, "have you thought about leaving Shinra?"

I froze, then I thought about the day Angeal left and the stupid answer I gave him.

"...yes," I replied, "for the longest time, I thought about quitting before I turn forty, and start a bakery in Midgar."

"I've never thought about leaving, "he said abruptly, "Since I was born, I belong to Shinra. Everything about me...belongs to the company."

That piece of broken piano song started to play in my head again.

I finally understood, what was the weird feeling about Sephiroth…

\- When he was trying to remember that song, when he was ordered by Hojo, when he listened to me calling my mom, his eyes…were empty.

He was forced onto the alter of god at a young age. He had no past. Genesis left, and then Angeal. When he pointed his blade to his past friend, he looked so

Lonely…

"No, Mr. Sephiroth, that's not true, no one belongs to Shinra!"

I looked into his eyes hopelessly, but I could not fill up that hole. I could only put on my sincerest voice and face, trying to add something under his hollow shell,

"No one belongs to Shinra...I know, you think you don't have anything. No family, no past, and your friends left. But...you still have yourself! You can choose! Even if you are not a SOLDIER or a hero anymore, you are still yourself! The Sephiroth I know...who is kind and patient, who likes to watch TV and to read, and play the piano too! See, you.. you are one of a kind...you are the Mr. Sephiroth I know! "

He dropped his eyelid again as I presented this long, emotional speech. Then I felt powerless and fell back to my chair, as if I just fought a war. Sephiroth remained quiet. It looked like he was hesitating, or he was in some inner battle with himself. That gave me some hope of victory. I was about to add something else, but he suddenly stood up.

"I should get going."


	14. Chapter 14

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: FFVII

* * *

I am probably butchering Cid's accent. Forgive me! Southern accent is too hard!

* * *

[Chapter 14]

I sat still until dawn that day. Dried tea stuck at the button of the cup. It looked like stain of blood, or tears.

I did not want to go to work, or do research about Masamune, or even distract myself. So I filled the form to request a two-week leave, claiming I got PTSD from Genesis copies' attack. Scarlet approved without hesitation - I was probably nothing but a useless annoying brat to her.

When the break started, I actually began to seriously consider life as a baker. During the two weeks, I went all over most of the bakeries and cafes in Midgar, taking notes of their menu, price and the style of their store. I really had no idea if I should quit for this, but doing this sort of research kept my brain busy.

Until that day, I passed by "92 `C", a newly opened bakery specialized in innovative cakes. I saw a girl in apron getting repelled from the store and the chef threw some sort of pastry out after pushing her out.

"What the fuck is this shit you made? You call this food?"

"But my cake is famous in the slums!"

The girl cried. And then the door closed on her face,

"Then get the fuck back to your slums! As if the upper plate want_ your_ kind of people here!"

She stood in front of the door and her shoulders started to shake, probably because of crying.

By the end of the two-week break, I already got sick of every corner of Midgar, even of my apartment. I went back to the company and forced myself to focus on work, making up the engineering and material science I lacked. I tried to come up with a method to fuse magic with weapons without consuming too much mako.

When I reinforced a standard SOLDIER sword with a small amount of mako containing thunder element, Scarlet finally showed some interest in what I was doing, but nothing more than mere interest. She spent most of her energy on that big project I couldn't join. I believed they were cooperating with the space department for some sort of rocket, and that took most of her time.

That august, I received an email titled "Budget Report". I usually don't read this kind of trash, but this time I clicked it since I wanted to know how much money our department had. I didn't anticipate this being that last straw. The email said,

_"After exhaustive engineering by the Weapon Development Department,_

_prototypes of the next generation of weapons are feature-complete_

_and being tested in the slums. Once mass production becomes_

_feasible, it would enable us to lower human resource costs by_

_drastically cutting down on the number of personnel. With high_

_expectations for these new weapons, we announce the following_

_changes to the budget:_

_[Security Department]_

_7 billion gil (Original: 10 billion gil)_

_[Arms Dev. Department]_

_11 billion gil (Original: 8 billion gil)"_

"Being tested in the slums"…what does that mean?

After what happened before, I already learned not to ask for information from the Turks. So I kept my eyes on local news to see if there was any sudden attack or explosion. As expected, a week later, some independent TV channel reported that a rocked crashed in sector 5 slums. A few civilians were injured but no one was dead.

I went to the slums on a weekend. That was the first time I ever came down the plate. Right after I got off the train, a disgusting stale smelled rushed to my nose. The slums were just as I imagined, dark, dirty and shabby. Random scraps of building materials piled up all over the barren land. I studied them carefully and recognized they were Shinra' s construction material. It was true that people from the upper plate dump trash into the slums.

I tried to ignore the terrible air and the dirty water on the ground, and found some random person to ask for direction. I told him I was looking for the crashed rocket, and he pointed at a direction.

"Just follow the light. That rocket crashed outside a church. You won't miss it."

I followed where he pointed to. After ten minutes, I saw a church in the front. That small. white church sat on top of a bunch of trash, beautiful like a miracle. Surprisingly, I was not the only visitor here. A man in blue jacket was standing in front of the remains of that rocket, smoking one cigarette after another at the proof of Shinra's crime, scratching his greasy blonde hair in misery. I kept peeking him and then I saw his face.

"Cid…Cid Highwind? Mr. Highwind?"

I walked up to him in shock. Our department work with the Space program a lot, I have seen his profile back in college. He was a famous scientist in the space program. I wonder what this project had to do with him.

"Ya know me?"

He eyes widened.

"Yes. I'm from the arms development department. I heard that some project was being tested in the slums and thought that was weird, so I came here to check…"

"Ain't the first time."

"What?"

"Ya don't know?"

He looked at me for a second and scratched his hair again in annoyance, took and big inhale of his cigarette and tossed it to step on it.

"Ya look so young, so ya pro'ably don't know. 'bout ten years'go, Shinra was testing bombs. It's suppos'd to be 50 kilometers away from Kalm. Then it went wrong. Bomb'd Kalm instead. "

He was speaking of this as if he was talking about something normal. I felt cold sweat began to form on my back.

"What happened afterwards then?"

"After?" the man sneered, "who da fuck knows, uh? People in Kalm disappear'd. Rebuilt the city, fake some bullshit to the media…I'm not supposed to be talkin' about this, ya know?"

Then he gave out some cold, dry laugh, "I shouldn't have stay'd in this shit hole. But damn! I just can't leave. I just want to see a real rocket, one can go to space, not this - this shit."

He kicked the pile of trash in front of him. Metal pieces and broken concrete slid to the ground.

"Then I'd give Shinra the finger and leave!"

"Yeah," I heard myself saying, "You are probably right."


	15. Chapter 15

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Chapter 15]

I went to celebrate with Cissnei and a few other college friends at this year's Summer Festival. Dressed in Wutaian style Yukata, we had a nice walk on the street lighted up by paper lanterns. We also bought a lot of stuff, snacks, jewelries, toys. Then we went to the top floor of a mall and enjoyed the night view of the city.

The eight mako reactors glowed brightly above Midgar's dark sky. Their color was beautiful, like Sephiroth's eyes. The reactors were so bright that even fireworks seemed dim compared with them - of course. After all, mako was draining the life of this planet.

"Cissnei."

Cissnei turned to me as I called her name under the blooming fireworks. She replied still immersed in excitement,

"Yes?"

"I think I'm going to quit."

"What?"

She asked. I knew she heard me. Another firework blasted by our ears and then I saw the corner of her lips slowly rose to a subtle smile. Then she said,

"Where will you go?"

"Not sure. Maybe to Kalm, or back to Costa Del Sol."

"As a consultant in weaponry?"

"No," I shook my head, "I will try start a bakery."

She stared at me for a while, and then reached out her hand to brush a piece of leaf from my hair. She gave me a real, sincere smile, a familiar orange soda flavored smile.

"Good for you. I'll visit you."

"Promise."

That night I texted my mom about moving to Kalm or Costa Del Sol, and started to worry about her response. I knew very clearly that my family basically made our living with Shinra. Before my parents retired, they never thought of going anywhere else except Midgar. After they were forced to move, they have always wanted me to get together with someone rich from the finance or science department, marry him, buy an apartment in sector 7 and have two children - because that was what they didn't accomplish.

Surprisingly, one hour later, my mom just replied "you can go wherever you want, as long as you are safe".

I wrote a resignation letter right away. I grabbed a template from the internet and made up some bullshit reason like "I don't think I am a good fit for this job". Nowadays there were not many people to fit my job description out there so I had to give the company at least three months. After I sent the email, I exhaled a long sigh, feeling unreal. My whole life, growing up in Midgar, going to school, working…all of it looked pale and unreal. I was suddenly reminded of Elfe and that captured AVALANCHE member cuffed by the Turks. I'd never have their eyes…they looked like they had really lived.

* * *

The next day, Scarlet asked for me in her office. I thought this time I could finally walk in straight, but actually I was still sweating in nervousness. She still looked like an arrogant queen surrounded by her trophies.

"You're really quitting?"

She cocked her head and pushed my letter on the table.

"Ye-yes," I swallowed, feeling difficult to make a sound, "I – I never attended any classified project, right? So I should be able to leave?"

"Kya-ha-ha-ha!"

She let out her signature laugh in a high-pitch voice and crossed her arms at me, looking at me scornfully.

"You really think you can get out of this world, huh?"

"…What do you mean?"

"You are very good at playing a fool, Anlila, though I think you really _are_ an idiot," her crimson lips curled up to a smile but her blue eyes were cold as ice, "I know why you want to get away. How pitiful, cuz' your world was constructed by Shinra single-handedly. Your family, your family money, education, career…you think you'd be clean once you leave Midgar? "

Her words choked my throat. I took a few deep breath, and dropped my head, as I replied obediently,

"I will try."

Scarlet didn't say anything. I could feel her icy gaze on the top of my head, so I kept my head low. After a few seconds, she sneered and I heard the sound of her signing her name and a pen dropping on the desk.

"What can I expect from you anyway? You pitiful- useless wimp. Fuck off after this new year."

I took the signed letter from her hands and bowed to her for the last time in my life.

* * *

I gave the letter to the HR department. When I walked out of the office, without the weight of that piece of paper, I felt so light and easy. I've never found Shinra office this bright before. My steps got faster and faster, lighter and lighter, almost floating off the floor. The elevator arrived and I strutted in without looking, then I ran into someone, hard.

"Ouch!"

The metal buttons on that person's jacket pressed into my flesh. I grunted loudly and raised my head, face distorted in pain. Then I met a pair of beaming emerald eyes.

"Watch out, miss."

"Ugh…"

I was dumbfounded by his reaction. I thought I'd never see Sephiroth smile again after what happened. He seemed to know what I was thinking and explained in a good mood,

"Genesis clones are appearing all over the world. There were sightings of Angeal's as well."

"For real?!" I gasped, "Then it means…it's possible they are still alive? If you can get them back, maybe things will turn around!"

He just narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"How about you?"

"Me? Oh, ah…"

He was asking why I was so happy. But as soon as I thought of it, my mood went all the way down. Leaving Shinra, leaving Midgar, then that meant…I could no longer see him often. No, actually, I probably won't see him ever again except from TV.

"What's wrong?"

Maybe my expression changed too drastically, Sephiroth asked again. The elevator stopped and we walked out together to lv. 49. I made sure no one was around and told him I decided to resign. He didn't seem surprised at all nor did he congratulated me. He simply said,

"So they approved, your parents."

That was a weird comment. I felt strange for a moment, then I thought of my mom's unexpected reaction to my text. No. No way. It can't be that…

I looked up to him, as I couldn't believe my deduction,

"Did… did they call you… again?"

He chuckled softly and did not answer. That made me even more worried. I ran in front of him and pressed on,

"Oh please, Mr. Sephiroth! What did they say?"

"They just asked why you want to quit."

"And what did you tell them?!"

"I told them your colleague was kidnapped at Junon, and Midgar had several attacks. You were traumatized, that's all."

I sighed in relief. I didn't ask if my parents said anything else. In fact I knew for sure that even if by beating around the bush, my mom would try to figure out if he was my boyfriend. Not that there was something really going on, but she definitely found it fishy that I borrowed a man's phone - I don't even talk to male colleagues that much. But I didn't mention it, not only because I didn't want the conversation to get awkward, but also because I did not want to hear his response.

As I was lost in thought, Sephiroth asked sounded almost concerned,

"Did I say anything wrong? "

"Oh no! Not at all!"I forced out a smile, "You...you helped me by a lot!"

We chatted for a little longer until I had to go. I felt like I had too much of him that I got drunk, and walked off dizzily. His smile today was like the sunset in Junon. It even had the power to warm the cold color tone of his hair and eyes.

That was the September of year 0002, the tail of Summer and the begining of Fall.

Three days later, Sephiroth left with Zack and a few infantrymen to Nibelheim to investigate an abandoned mako reactor. On the evening they arrived, he sent me a text attached with a photo of some kind of bread with cream in the middle, and asked me,

"_Is this common in Midgar?"_

I had to put that picture in search engine to find out that it was called "kanelbullar", a kind of cinnamon roll served in Nibel area. I checked the menus I kept from Midgar's bakeries and made sure such thing was not sold in any store here.

"_I don't think so. I think it is Nibel area's local food."_

"_Thanks."_

Usually the texting stops here. But this time I looked at that text over and over again, imaging Sephiroth eating the cinnamon roll. And I couldn't control myself but typed,

"_Is it good? Should I add it to my menu?"_

"_No."_

I threw my phone onto my bed, frustrated. But few seconds later I picked it up again, gritting my teeth, typed out a messaged and deleted it again. I did not know how many times I repeated this meaningless process, until I gained the determination to click "send" with my eyes closed,

"_Mr. Sephiroth, after I leave the company…can I ever see you again?"_

As soon as the text was sent, I threw away my phone again as if it was giving me electric shock, then I ran to the kitchen and tried to cook. Just after I put water into the boiler, I couldn't help but went back to my room and picked up the phone again. A little white envelope was sitting on my screen. I clicked it with shaky fingers,

"_Maybe we will meet each other outside Shinra."_

"_It's a deal then!"_ I jumped onto my bed and typed fervently with both hands, _"If I can really start a bakery, please, come to my store at least once, no matter where it is? I'll give you a discount...no, it will be all on the house!"_

He replied very quickly with only one word,

"_Alright."_

—TBC—

* * *

Author's note:

The conversation about her mom's phone is inspired by this dialogue between Zack and Cissnei.

_Zack: Anyway Cissnei-Do you think you can keep my parents company for me?_

_Cissnei: Of course. It'd be my pleasure._

_Zack: Maybe they will ask you to join the family._

_Cissnei: They already did._

_Zack: What? What did you say! Cissnei!_

And about the cinnamon roll, it is a northern European dessert, as Nibelheim is based on Norse mythology. Sephiroth remembers he'd seen Nibel mountain before though he is told that he grew up in Shinra. I am stretching this part. I imagine that when he was kid, Hojo or someone else had gotten him the local dessert at least once and he'd remember that taste.

One more chapter then it is the finale!


	16. Chapter 16

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

[Chapter 16]

When Cissnei rushed into my lab, I was holding the katana I just forged. This was a gift for Sephiroth, a sword shorter than Masamune but with a straighter and heavier blade. Masamune counted as Shinra's property, maybe, but every part of this katana came out of my own pocket. It was a gift I planned to give him as a co-worker and a friend. I even wrote the card already,

"_For you and you only. I wish one day you can find your friend and find where you belong."_

"Anlila!"

Cissnei flew to me and her face darkened as soon as she saw the katana in my hand. She grabbed it from me and tossed it into the quench tank, then she dragged me out of the office.

"Wait, wait - Cissnei! What's going on!"

I struggled helplessly. How could I get away from a Turk? She dragged me straight to the staircase and finally let me go. I tidied up my clothes rumpled in struggle,

"What happened!"

"Nibelheim has been burned down," she looked at me with a funereal expression on her face, and said with her sweet, husky voice, "By Sephiroth."

What she said after that sounded so distant. Sephiroth found out about his birth, and he set the village ablaze and went into Mt. Nibel, where the abandoned reactor was, and then disappeared in the lifestream.

I begged her to help me get to Nibelheim. She didn't agree at first. I begged again and again and finally, after a few days, she gave me an address in the slums.

I made my way to the slums and met that mafia in a disturbing room. I didn't even feel anything when he placed his eyes on my chest. He gave me a fake Turk ID and a set of Turk uniform.

When I got to Nibel area I tried the cinnamon roll once. To a baker's palette it was intolerably sweet, so sweet that as I ate it tears kept running down my cheeks. I arrived at the town of Nibelheim in midnight. The town was barred by warning tapes. I showed the fake ID to the guard and he let me in without a problem. The other guard in front of the Shinra Manor scrutinized that ID, but he eventually let me in.

I put on gloves and started to look for the library. But in the first room I entered, I found a piano. I searched around the piano and pulled out a set of notes sheets under the chair. That notes sheet was written in beautiful handwriting. I tried to play it, and my guess was confirmed - It was the song that Sephiroth played before.

Its title was _The Crescent Moon_.

A photo was tucked in between the pages. It was cut in half. Four people on the photo were split into two pairs. Professor Hojo and Gast on this half. A young woman was on the other half. Her features were very similar to Sephiroth's. A beautiful young man in Turk uniform stood next to her. I turned the photo around and saw the same handwriting on the notes sheet wrote here,

"_Hojo, Gast, Lucrecia. 10/1/1977"_

I dropped the notes sheet and the photos, and went to the bookshelf passage. All the documents laid flat open on the desk - maybe Shinra haven't decided what to do with them. It had been five days since the incident. People from the company already arrived for days and now they probably left the site to rest since it was midnight.

I opened the document titled "Project Jenova". The woman who gave birth to Sephiroth, the woman on that photo…her name was Lucrecia Crescent. Hojo wrote in the notes,

"…_however, unlike what Gast believed, Jenova was not Cetra. In fact, it was an extraterrestrial life form from outer space. Sephiroth never gained the ability to converse with the planet. Nonetheless, he showed extraordinary capability in fighting, surpassing any other samples injected with Jenova cells. This is probably due to the fact that he was injected with the cell at fetal stage. He shows no rejection of Jenova cells. One could even say he is the incarnation of Jenova."_

And someone underlined the last two sentences and wrote a comment next to them, _"The cost is too high. Not suitable for mass-production among SOLDIERs."_

I threw that report away and started digging around in the bookshelves. A heavy tome dropped from one of the stacks and fell open on the floor. Each page of it was a printed file of one experiment sample. I flipped through it and saw many different projects, Project J, Project Ancients, Project G…and then I encountered a familiar face, Elfe's face. She had the same short hair and green eyes but was still a teenager on the photo. Below the picture was her file,

"_Name: Felicia_

_Region of birth: Kalm_

_Project: Materia fusion_

_Result: Failed"_

And the term "Discarded" was stamped on top of her file in red.

"_It's just a sword. It doesn't need a name."_

I thought of what Sephiroth said as I kneeled down among the pile of open books. He did not want to name the Masamune.

It belonged to him once after he named it. During the twenty-seven years spent in Shinra, it seemed that nothing really ever belonged to him.

With such grief and helplessness he tried to cling to the only thing he had - the self he just gained not for long. Then that was taken away from him as well.

I just wanted to know that, within the past seven days and nights in this suffocating basement, when he felt like he lost everything, when his brain was crammed by deranged ideas, did he ever thought about me? Even if just for one second?

Maybe he did.

But that tiny bit of warmth and sentiment was so, so negligible, in front of the drowning darkness of despair…

I was submerged by desperation, Sephiroth's, Angeal's, Elfe's, mine. As the world suddenly turned up side down, I realized that I had fell to the ground, my face pressing against the cold hard floor. I still didn't understand what happened. After a short moment, my arms and my shoulder blades ached severely. Someone pulled my arms behind me and the high-quality soft leather brushed against my wrists - this time they were gloves wore by Shinra employee.

I heard the infantryman who was guarding the manor spoke,

"It's her. She's an imposter. There is no such person in the Turks."

"Let me see."

Said a hideous, high-pitched voice. That voice came close to me and made an interested "huh".

"I'll take this sample."

"That's…that's probably not very appropriate, professor. She's from the arms development department." Another unfamiliar voice said.

"Hm…" The "professor" paused, trying to determine my fate. At the same time a syringe pierced into my skin and an unknown fluid was pushed into my body. In my remaining conscious, I heard his last remark,

"Arms development? Huh, these pitiful rats. Send her to Deepground to continue her ironsmithing then…"

* * *

Next chapter is the finale.


	17. Chapter 17

**Making of A Sword**

For Sephiroth

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII

* * *

[Finale]

"Weiss the Immaculate, Nero the Sable, Rosso the Crimson, Azul the Cerulean, Shelke the Transparent…"

I counted one name after another was I stood in the headquarters. Weiss' austere gunblades without decoration, Nero's black handguns, Rosso's blood-red dual edged blade, Azul's rocket launcher decorated with blue rings, Shelke's electromagnetic sabers that matches her eyes… I stepped back and put both of my hands on my broadsword, waiting for Weiss' assessment. He examined all of the weapons and exchanged a look with me, nodding with approval.

"Good work, Argento."

"My pleasure."

I replied in a cold voice, trying my best to hold back a sneer.

Seven years ago, I woke up in this dark underground world. I don't remember who I am, my age, my family, or anything in my past. Shinra's Restrictors gave me only one task and one task only - forge weapons for Deepground soldiers. In the past seven years I have seen countless samples being transported here. Some raised up in ranking by slaughtering the others.

The resentment against the Restrictors was growing within every soldier. I can see each of their will clearly. Weiss wants to liberate everyone. Rosso, who was born in the headquarters has never seen the real sky, she wants to go above ground and see the real rain. Azul wants to prove that his strength surpasses the Restrictors. And Shelke, though she never speak of it, I know she always wishes her sister to come save her out of this hell…

"Now you can all defeat the Restrictors, leave this place, and…find your freedom."

Weiss picked up his katana and tried a few movements with it.

"What about you?" he asked me, "What are you going to do after you get back to the upper world?"

I…

"_If I can really start a bakery, please, come to my store at least once, no matter where it is? I'll give you a discount...no, it will be all on the house!"_

I don't know why this voice showed up in my mind, speaking shyly with excitement. It seemed to be my voice. But I have no idea when and why I said that.

"So you still don't remember."

"No."

Weiss seemed to find this answer very boring. He swung the swords a few times in front of him and put them on his back. Then he suddenly thought of something and asked,

"You are the only one in the Tsviets who does not have a title. It sounds ridiculous, but if we all have ours, you should not be an exception, should you? "

At that moment, I drifted away in thought. I almost recalled a figure of a man, a flawless figure, uncorrupted, too perfect to belong to this world, but I also can't recall anything. I pondered about it for a long time. In the end, I heard my own voice saying,

"Silver…Argento the Silver."

—Fin—

* * *

Argento is a character appeared only in Dirge of the Cerberus Online Mode. She is a member of the Tsviets in Deepground. I vaguely remember unreliable sources suggests that she should have had a bigger role and maybe some interaction with Sephiroth.

I learnt about the real history of Deepground after writing this fic. Argento was actually brought to the facility during Wutai war and she lost one eye fighting with the Restrictor. Nothing about her previous life is known. So I am just making things up.

Check out her Wiki:

wiki/Argento

Thanks so much for reading. I sincerely appreciate any thought or comment! Please leave a review if you would like!


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